Sri Lankan Navy arrests 12 Indian TN fishermen
Chennai, July 4 (IANS): The Sri Lankan navy arrested 12 Indian fishermen from Point Pedro in Jaffna and seized their mechanized boats.
In a statement, Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Captain Indika DeSilva said the arrests took place on Sunday as the fishermen were fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters.
The incident happened days after Tamil Nadu’s two-month fishing ban ended and fishermen resumed fishing. The fishing ban is enforced in the state for two months to allow fish to breed.
Notably, several Tamil Nadu fishermen are languishing in Sri Lankan prisons and despite several high-level meetings and discussions between the two nations, the issue remains unresolved.
Recently, Tamil fishermen in Sri Lanka petitioned the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, against the state’s large trawlers operating in Sri Lankan waters, causing fear and anxiety among fishermen in the Sri Lanka.
The cause for concern is that trawlers catching huge volumes of fish are leaving Sri Lankan fishermen without a catch.
Amid the economic crisis in the island nation, fishermen are concerned that large Indian trawlers from Tamil Nadu are illegally entering Sri Lankan waters and fishing.
The question has been the subject of bilateral and diplomatic discussions for ten years but without any amicable solution.