A team of wildlife officials on Monday recovered 25 kg of sea fan, a variety of coral, filled in seven gunny bags, which were found hidden on Keelakarai seashore.
Sources said, based on a tip-off, an official team led by Jayaraman, Range officer, Gulf of Mannar National Marine Park, conducted a raid at Keelakarai seashore area.
The team spotted the seven gunny bags filled with sea fan and concealed in a corner of the seashore and seized the banned marine species, which comes under schedule I part 4 (a) of the Wildlife Protection Act. The sea fan is a habitat for many marine species, besides preventing coastal areas from natural calamities, including tsunami. It is utilized as an ornamental material in Japan and some other countries after being processed. The seizure at Keelakarai is the first such incident in the district, since smugglers normally prefer to poach sea horse and sea cucumber.
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