New Delhi has taken a serious view of poachers from Burma increasingly preying on the fragile marine ecology of the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

“Myanmar poachers are taking away our marine resources like valuable fish, killing sharks and destroying corals,” said Air Marshall P.P. Raj Kumar, military commander of Adaman and Nicobar.

“The poachers usually come in small boats at night and escape in bigger vessels that lurk outside India’s territorial waters, he said.

“We have step up the battle against the rising number of boats sneaking in from Myanmar,” he added.

More than 200 poachers were arrested till May this year, compared to 357 last year, the Air Marshal said quoting defence records.

“We are just catching 15-20 percent of the poachers from Myanmar. A large number of them are getting away.”

The Air Marshal said that the poachers from Burma have even set up hideouts in the archipelago.

“We have destroyed some permanent bases set up by the poachers but many more continue to exist in some remote islands,” he said.

India has air and naval bases and listening posts across the archipelago as it is the main sea lane between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

“The region is prone to smuggling, piracy and poaching, besides illegal immigration, Kumar said.

“There is a lot of pressure on pirates in the Malacca Strait and if some groups decide to hide anywhere or make camps, it will be bad for everyone and will be a headache for us,” he said.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located about 1,200 kilometres east of the Indian mainland. The Islands have some of the world’s pristine beaches and rare corals. Its waters have prized fish, sea cucumbers, sea turtles and rare salt-water crocodiles.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also home to some of the world’s most isolated and primitive tribes and their territory is off limits to outsiders.

Thousands of people were killed and the region’s rich marine life suffered heavy damage in the wake of the tsunami in 2004.