ECONOMYNEXT – India and its Southern Tamil Nadu state should take strict actions against their fishermen who encroach into and involved in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan seas with the usage of banned bottom trawler methods, the island nation’s Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said.
Sri Lanka has seen bottom trawling by Indian fishermen during the peak fishing season in Sri Lanka’s northern waters off Jaffna. Bottom trawling is banned by Sri Lanka and is a punishable offense, which has led to arrest of a raft of Indian fishermen along with their bottom trawlers.
Depletion of fish resources in the Northern sea in the face of continuous Indian bottom trawling, a method of banned fishing that involves dragging heavy weighted nets across the sea floor, has pushed some Northern fishermen to take up Chinese funded sea cucumber farming.
Sri Lanka’s North is just 27 km from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Northern fishermen have accused the Sri Lanka Government of not doing enough to curb Indian encroaching and bottom trawling.
“Though the child and mother are the same, their mouth and stomach are different.” Minister Devananda cited a Tamil proverb to explain Northern fishermen are suffering in the hands of Indian fishermen.
Northern fishermen have repeatedly pleaded with the governments of both India and Sri Lanka to stop bottom trawling in Sri Lankan territory.
CONTINUING INDIAN BOTTOM TRAWLERS
However, the plea has fallen on deaf ears. The plundering of Sri Lankan fishing resources continues despite the Sri Lankan Navy arresting some Indian fishermen and confiscating some trawlers
“Theft can’t be eliminated unless the thief feels his mistake and corrects himself. It is Indian fishermen who are encroaching. That should be banned,” Devananda said.
“It is not only us, but also the Indian and Tamil Nadu government should act on this. But there are no such efforts seen from the Indian side to stop this.”
The Indian Federal Government in principle agreed to ban bottom trawling in 2016 within three years in a phased-out manner by shifting the bottom trawlers to deep water fishing, Sri Lanka Government officials say.
But bottom trawling is thriving in the north, though Delhi agreed to ban it six years back.
“Due to the illegal encroachment and poaching of Tamil Nadu fishermen, not only our resources are destroyed, but also the livelihood of our fishermen. Our fishermen have expressed their dissatisfaction and protest against this,” he said.
The Minister said the Indian trawlers are not seen for the past two months as it is the hatching period of fish in the Northern sea.
“This is not something that started yesterday or today,” he said.
“We want to have not only the discussions, but also the laws implemented. We think we can control this by arresting those who encroach and illegally fishing while implement the law.
The bottom trawling sweeps up all juvenile fish along with their habitats and invertebrates that get in its way, which results in fishermen not having an adequate fish catch.
Northern fishermen blame India for not taking the issue seriously and they blame their own Tamil political leadership for using the issue to their own advantage, and they blame bureaucrats for their lethargic attitudes. (Colombo/June 11/2024)