Poaching crisis: President ...

The Sri Lankan side also had raised the issue about the release of Sri Lankan fishermen taken into custody in India. At least 154 Lankan fishermen are still in custody in India.

Most of the fishermen arrested in Indian territorial waters claimed that they had been taken in while heading for international waters.

Sri Lanka has so far not received a response from India to its call to honour ‘innocent passage’ for its fishermen.

Indian High Commission officials declined to comment on a letter addressed to High Commissioner K.N. Sinha in this regard.

Sri Lankan fishermen who have been issued a ‘fishing operations licence’ for high seas fishing have been advised they could pass through the Indian territorial waters to enter the high seas of the Indian Ocean outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of another country. They have also been provided a map by the local authorities specifying the route through Indian territorial waters.

The licence says that it is being issued under the UN Law of the Sea Convention 1982, the UN Fish Stock Agreement 1995 and the Resolutions of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). However local fishermen said Indian coast guards in the recent weeks had not accepted the ‘licence’.

The moves came as the European Union also engaged India on allegations of indulging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing methods.

“The EU is in contact with India in relation to the IUU Regulations,” Oliver Drewes, EU spokesperson for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries told the Sunday Times.

However, he declined to elaborate saying “subjects discussed with India will not be revealed to Sri Lanka or other partners – just as the dialogue the Commission and Sri Lanka currently have,”.

“Illegal fishing threatens the liveli- hood of honest fishermen and it puts at risk the fish supply for the future. At the same time it threatens the environment and the livelihood of coastal communities,” the EU spokesman said.

He said the European Commission was identifying third countries which were not sufficiently respecting the international rules in place.

Deputy Minister Gunaratne last month accused the EU of failing to take action regarding the poaching by Indian fishermen.

However, the EU spokesperson said that under the EU IUU Regulation, the EU was not addressing disputes involving one country with its neighbouring countries. “It is up to the relevant States to deal with bilateral disputes on fisheries in line with the provisions of international law,” he added.

“There are no double standards in the application of the IUU Regulation which is based on non- discrimination,” he said.

Mr. Drewes said Sri Lanka had, however, not yet lodged an official complaint with the EU on the Indian poaching issue.