Sri Lankans reject Indian request outright

Heads of Sri Lankan fishing associations have decided to turn down all the requests made by their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, following a series of discussions with their communities in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The decision was made during talks held this week.

Fisherfolk leaders this week met the Director-General of the Fisheries Ministry M.C. L. Fernando to convey their collective response after considering the Indian fishermen's five-point demands that included seeking 83 days’ access a year to Lankan waters in the Palk Straits and a three-year grace period to switch from bottom-trawling to sustainable fishing methods.

During the third round of fishermen-level talks in Chennai the Indians emphasised that they had a “traditional right” to fish in Lankan waters in the past and therefore needed three years to give up bottom-trawling. During that time, they said, they needed access to the sea from five nautical miles off the Sri Lankan coast.

this week’s decision came after consultation with their community on the advantages and disadvantages of allowing the Indian fishermen in their sea.

"We have realised that if we allow the Indian fishermen to fish in our waters for three years using bottom-trawling our seabed resources would be wiped out completely like the Indian sea, where they are now complaining of a shortage of fish species due to illegal fishing,” Mannar Fisheries Federation President Justin Zoysa, who took part in the Chennai talks, told the SundayTimes.

“Considering these effects on our livelihood and the future generations we have decided not to agree to their request for bottom-trawling even for a single day .”

Friday’s meeting of the National Fisheries Federation was held under the chairmanship of the Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.

Mr. Zoysa, who was present at the meeting, requested the Minister to allow the local fishermen, with navy help, to cut the folded nets used for bottom-trawling by Indian fishermen.

“We are forced to plan such things since we can do nothing to stop them,” Mr. Zoysa said. “When our fishermen anchor their boats in mid-ocean they put their trawling nets adjacent to ours. Our nets become totally damaged and sometimes they get swept into the trawling nets,” he said.

Jaffna Fishermen Association leader Naganathy Ponnambalam pointed out that talking had been going on at fishermen level since 2004 without achieving a lasting solution.

“Now the Indian fishermen are asking us to give three more years to give up bottom-trawling and switch to normal fishing methods. If they honestly wanted to do that they could have abandoned that during these past 10 years,” he said.

“Besides, at the first round of talks in 2010 they promised us they would scrap bottom-trawling within a certain time frame. They did not follow that, so how can they expect us to give them more time? This is a time-buying act, nothing else.”

The fishermen’s association leaders framed a 10-point response to their Indian counterparts, stating in the strongest terms that there would be no room given for them to fish in Lankan waters.

Sri Lanka’s northern fishermen have been through very hard times. The final phase of the war shattered the livelihood and financial capability of fishermen in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, and they are still trying to create stable livelihoods.

“After the three decades of war we are still struggling to support our families in a daily basis. The Indian fishermen should have probed their conscience about upsetting our livelihood. We can go fishing only three days a week. Not only that, local fishermen from other districts come to our seas to fish. We have complained to many authorities but there has been no action taken,” the President of the Mullaitivu Fishermen’s Federation, Anthonipillai Mariyarasa, said.

Fishermen leaders from the former conflict area indicated that the ban on fishing off the northern coasts enforced by the government during the war had led to marine resources and fish varieties in that area becoming very rich, which was why fishermen from other districts of the country and Tamil Nadu wanted to fish in those seas.They pointed out that their daily catch was decreasing significantly due to illegal Indian fishing, putting their livelihoods under threat.“We don't know any profession other than fishing, so what are we to do?” Mr. Mariyarasa demanded.