News
Indians throw away 30 % of their catch
View(s):As much as one-third or more than 30 per cent of the fish caught by Indian poachers in Sri Lankan waters is dumped back into the sea as ‘waste fish’ as the fishermen engage in internationally banned IUU (Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported) fishing practices.
Bottom trawling is banned both in India and Sri Lanka, but Indian fishermen engage in the practice in Sri Lankan waters with impunity with the encouragement of the Tamil Nadu State government and the protection of the central government in New Delhi.
“We are trying to resolve this issue amicably,” says Fisheries Director General N.D. Hettiarachchi (in the absence of Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senarathne who is in Germany). He confirmed that the Joint Working Group of the two countries has not met due to India refusing to fix a date.
IUU fishing carries a worldwide ban and Sri Lanka loses more than Rs. 8 billion a year due to this poaching in addition to the haemorrhaging impact on the country’s marine eco environment in the northern waters, a Sunday Times investigation shows.
Due to ‘bottom-trawling’ the waste fish quantity is high, Dr. Hiran Jayewardena, former Chairman of the National Aquatic Research Agency (NARA) said.
“Our sailors have seen the Indian fishermen throwing the smaller fish caught in the massive bottom-trawling nets back into the sea as they are of no use to them. What is thrown away includes marine life and coral. This has been established when these fishermen have been arrested by the Navy as well,” Navy Commander Jayanatha Colombage told the Sunday Times.
“This is causing heavy damage to the marine life for generations,” Vice Admiral Colombage said.Sri Lanka has come under tough action by the European Union for IUU fishing but so far no action has been taken by the EU on the Indian poaching issue though India is one of the suppliers to the EU market.
“It is the like the EU buying stolen goods. It should trace the source. It is like a big country robbing a small country. The EU should be concerned about it,” Dr. Jayawardena said. Marine Biologist Nishan Perera said, ‘The biggest concern is about the destruction to the marine life in those waters. It is real habitat destruction. After you clean out the habitat the chance of catching any fish in that area is lost”.
“There are places in the world where there has been heavy bottom trawling and the fish stocks have collapsed, even after they stop fishing in the area. The classic example is the Cod fisheries in Newfoundland, Canada. It is almost 30 to 40 years since the industry collapsed. They can’t restart as the stock has not recovered.”
Lanka accuses EU of double standards
The European Union which has ‘yellow carded’ (warned) Sri Lanka for indulging in IUU (Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported) fishing practices had deftly avoided the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen engaged in such practices in Sri Lankan waters saying that it is a bi-lateral matter which the EU does not address.
The EU imports large quantities of shrimp, prawns, tuna and other fish from the state of Tamil Nadu in India and certifies fish processing plants that are part of a multi-billion rupee industry. Part of the catch that goes into this industry is by poaching in Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Strait, a Sunday Times INSIGHT investigation revealed last week.
The investigation revealed that more than a thousand Tamil Nadu boatmen engage in ‘bottom-trawling’ that is banned worldwide and the EU, the US, Japan and other countries were benefiting from this illegal practice.
The European Commission spokesperson for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Oliver Drewes told the Sunday Times that “the EU is not addressing bilateral disputes of third countries with their neighbouring countries”.
Asked by this newspaper about internationally banned IUU fishing practices by the poaching Tamil Nadu fishermen, the spokesperson said, “It is up to the relevant states to deal with bilateral disputes on fisheries.” He did not directly answer the question.
When asked specifically whether the EU was aware that the ‘catch’ from such IUU fishing practices adopted by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters, especially of prawns, shrimp and cuttlefish were processed at factories approved by the EU for export to EU countries, the spokesperson said, “EU member States could request verification of the information in case of existence of well-established and documented doubts”.
In respoonse Fisheries Director General Hettiarachchi accused the EU was adopting double-standards in slapping Sri Lanka with a ‘yellow card’ for IUU fishing, but ignoring what the Indian fishermen were doing in Sri Lankan waters. He said the EU told Sri Lanka to follow the guidelines, but it did not tell India to do so.
comments powered by Disqus