As India played Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup final last night, there were different Indo-Lanka issues for the fishing community of Sri Lanka to contend with.
The Sri Lanka Navy has stepped up patrolling in the northwestern coast along the Negombo-Kalpitiya belt following reports that Indian fishermen were now poaching in those waters after being confronted by northern fishermen.
The increased patrolling comes in the wake of official talks between the two governments to resolve the fishing dispute where mostly Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu were continuing to show their presence prompting Sri Lankan fishermen in the area to lodge complaints with the Navy.
A senior Navy officer from the northwestern command said they were sending out patrol boats from Colombo along the northwestern coast to keep the Indian fishing boats out of the area. “However they continue to keep coming into the area,” he said.
Representatives of fishermen’s associations, however, told the Sunday Times that they were not satisfied with the Navy’s response as the Indian fishing trawlers continued to intrude into Sri Lankan waters, seriously affecting the local fishermen and the Navy was only chasing them away without arresting them.
The continuing poaching in Sri Lankan territorial waters by Indian fishermen has prompted the government to rush an official delegation to areas in the north western coast including Kalpititya, for talks with the local fishermen and to assess the impact of the poaching.
Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne accompanied by officials of his ministry and the Fisheries Department will meet fishermen and Navy officers to discuss immediate action to prevent Indian fishermen from poaching.
Last month local fishermen arrested more than 100 Indian fishermen and handed them over to the local police. They were remanded by the Point Pedro Magistrate but were released on the advice of the Attorney General’s Department.
Anton Rex, President of the Fishing Trawlers Association in Kalpitiya, told the Sunday Times the Indian fishermen were now coming some four kilometres closer to the coast. “When we see their boats we turn back as they would damage our fishing gear. We have complained to the Navy, but the response was poor,” he said.
“We will be compelled to take the same action taken by the northern fishermen if the situation continues,” he warned.
The developments came as the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries met in New Delhi this week where the two sides are expected to discuss the issues related to poaching.
Sri Lanka has sought time to study a draft copy of a proposed Memorandum of Understating (Mou) on development and co-operation related to fisheries.A copy was made available to the Sri Lankan officials attending the Joint Working Group meeting in New Delhi.
The draft will be studied by experts from the Fisheries Ministry as well as the Navy before giving a response to India, External Affairs Ministry’s Additional Secretary Ranjith Uyangoda, who headed the Lankan delegation at the two-day talks told the Sunday Times.
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