News
Seized Indian trawlers gifted to northern fishermen
View(s):- Donation coincides with Indian fisheries minister’s visit to Jaffna
- High-powered Indian vessels to be used in sea patrols by fishermen
By S. Rubatheesan
Five massive high-horse-powered boats used for illegal bottom trawling by the Tamil Nadu fishermen are to be used for patrolling the seas and spotting fishing boats coming in from south India.
Some of the seized Indian vessels
The Indian State Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Information and Broadcasting, Dr. L. Murugan, was leading a delegation from New Delhi for the opening of the state-of-the-art Cultural Centre by President Ranil Wickremesinghe last morning.
President Wickremesinghe said the outstanding issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen
entering Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar and engaging in illegal bottom trawling fishing methods should be settled by talks and that he hoped to raise the issue with the Indian side.
Speaking to civil society and the business community on Friday, the President said he hoped to seek Indian support to develop the Trincomalee port as well to further northern economic development.
Minister Devananda handed over the five Indian bottom trawlers to representatives of the Fishermen’s Federation at Myliddy, Kankesanthurai. He welcomed the visiting Indian Union Minister at Palaly airport just hours before handing over the trawlers to the local fishermen near Myliddy, located a few kilometers from the regional airport.
Representatives of fishermen’s unions from Mullaithivu, Point Pedro, Gurunagar, Valvettithurai and Aliyavalai of Jaffna were given a trawler each for patrolling purposes in their respective sea.
The move to distribute seized Indian trawlers came after continued complaints from local fishermen that authorities, including the Sri Lanka Navy, had failed to control the ongoing illegal bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan territorial waters for years despite assurances given to them that they would be stopped.
Addressing a tense meeting with local fishermen in Gurunagar weeks ago, Minister Devananda pledged to provide Indian trawlers to ‘protect their boats’ from being damaged by Indian trawler nets and to ‘catch’ the Indian fishermen who venture into the Northern seas.
Vincent Arulnathan, President of Annai Velangkanni Fishermen Association in Mullaithivu who received the trawler on behalf of the union, told the Sunday Times that with the coordination of local fisheries department officials, the vessels would be used to protect their livelihood.
Even though the trawlers were handed over to the fishermen’s unions after the trawling nets and equipment were removed, local fisher-folk expressed concerns about how this action plan of the Minister would be implemented, fearing more mid-sea conflict among fishermen of the two countries.
Kayts Fishermen Federation President Annalingam Annarasa, however, was critical of the minister’s move saying it would further divide the fishermen communities of the two countries and lead to violence at sea.
“It is true that we are not satisfied with the steps taken by authorities to control Indian poaching in our waters, but we should not be taking the law into our own hands. By using this as an example, will the minister allow Northern fishermen to engage in similar steps against local fishermen who engage in illegal activities as well,” he asked.
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