India retaliates
This comes against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s deterrent mechanism
In an apparent retaliatory move, the South Indian authorities have suspended the release of Sri Lankan fishermen who were arrested on charges of having entered India’s territorial waters, a senior Fisheries Department official said yesterday.
He said this move came against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s decision to confiscate the catch of fish, the vessels, and the fishing gear of Indian fishermen arrested when caught poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
Fisheries Department Director General Nimal Hettiarachchi said Indian Government officials had failed to meet their Sri Lankan counterparts for more than two years to discuss and resolve the deliberate violation of Sri Lanka’s International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and the blatant inroads made by these fishermen on our fishery resources.
“It is well-known that thousands of multi-day boats and other fishing craft from Tamil Nadu trespass into Sri Lankan waters violating its IMBL on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They rob our fish with impunity using the banned bottom-trawling method. This means they scrape out all marine life, corals and the entire marine habitat. They discard all unnecessary fish and other marine species to the sea before leaving our waters in the morning. This illegal and highly harmful fishing method devastates and destroys Sri Lanka’s entire Northern seabed,” Mr. Hettiarachchi said.
He said as a measure to discourage Indian fishermen, the Fisheries Department had requested the Attorney General to draft laws directed towards the release of the fishermen arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy but to confiscate their trawlers, catch of fish and fishing gear.
“In the last couple of weeks alone, the SLN has arrested 146 fishermen and seized their vessels. Nearly 76 have been released later,” he said. “We are now aware that 37 Sri Lankan fishermen have been detained indefinitely by Tamil Nadu authorities having taken their multi day boats into custody. We have contacted the Indian authorities via the External Affairs Ministry to secure their release but there has been no positive response up to now.”
Mr. Hettiarachchi said the IndoSri Lanka Joint Working Group Committee on Fisheries had not met since 2011 and that requests made to India to resume discussions on resolving the fisheries crisis had not been heeded.
“I believe that the failure to resume bilateral talks has been in- fluenced by Tamil Nadu. An effort by Minister Basil Rajapaksa some months ago to initiate a discussion between fishermen’s societies of Tamil Nadu and Northern Sri Lanka has allegedly been thwarted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jeyaram Jayalalithaa. The bilateral talks between the two countries must be held at least twice a year,” he added.
Mr. Hettiarachchi said the illegal fishing by Indian fishermen has violated the guidelines and regulations of the European Union (EU) that has banned Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The Indian fishermen also violate the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission conditions, the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, the UN Food Stock Agreement and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s compliance of Fisheries.
“The illegal catch of Sri Lanka’s fish by South Indian fishermen has also disrupted the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry’s plans to develop the industry and its export and production targets,” Mr. Hettiarachci said.
It is well-known that thousands of multi-day boats and other fishing craft from Tamil Nadu trespass into Sri Lanka’s waters violating her IMBL on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays