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The simplest way to resolve the TN fishing issue: Implement the law
View(s):By Steve Creech
The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry amended the Fisheries (Regulation of Foreign Fishing Boats) Act No. 57 of 1979 on February 8, 2018.
The principal enactment was promulgated subsequent to the declaration of Sri Lanka’s 370 km exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and bilateral agreements signed with India in 1974 and 1976, demarcating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between the two states in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Palk Strait and Bay of Bengal. The new amendments aligned Sri Lanka’s foreign fisheries laws to deter illegal entry (trespass) and fishing in Sri Lankan waters with those of its neighbours in the Indian Ocean region.
For example, Indian courts fine boat owners and skippers between $11,900 and $17,854 for trespassing or illegally fishing in Indian waters. Courts in India can also impose prison sentences of up to three years. Sri Lankan boat owners and skippers arrested for trespassing or fishing illegally in Maldivian waters are liable to fines of up to US$26,000. The Seychelles imposes fines ranging from US$190,000 to US$1.9 million depending on the level of the offence and the length of the vessels.
Tamil Nadu vessels and fishermen arrested between 2020 and 2024 compared to the Tamil Nadu fishing vessels detected in Sri Lankan waters. Sundaralingam, D. et al., 2024.
Since 2017, some 54 Sri Lankan vessels and 208 Sri Lankan fishermen have been arrested, fined, or imprisoned by Indian, Maldivian, and Seychellois authorities for trespassing or illegally fishing in their waters.
The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department began prosecuting Tamil Nadu fishermen under the amended Act in 2020 after the government lifted restrictions on arrests imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Magistrates’ courts in Kayts, Point Pedro and Mannar Town began imposing custodial sentences in 2022. Fines were first imposed earlier this year. Last month, 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen were fined a total of Rs 185 million (US$615,269) by the Kalpitiya Magistrate for illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters. The skipper of the Tamil Nadu fishing vessel was fined Rs. 20 million (US$ 66,512). Each crew member was fined Rs. 15 million (US$ 49,884). All were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment in default of the fine.
A recent analysis of remote sensing data obtained from the Global Fishing Watch website (https://globalfishingwatch.org/) suggests that the number of Tamil Nadu boats fishing illegally in Sri Lankan waters declined by 63% between 2020 and 2023.
The observations are consistent with reports in the Indian media that fewer Tamil Nadu vessels are leaving Rameshwaram, Devipattinam, Thondi, Kottaipattinam, and Nagapattinam every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evenings. Anecdotal observations from fishing communities in Delft, Kayts, Point Pedro and Talaimannar also indicate that Tamil Nadu vessels arrive in groups of twenty or thirty now, compared to a hundred or more before COVID-19. The decreasing number of vessels detected using remote sensing data was strongly correlated with the increasing arrest of Tamil Nadu boats and fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy (See figure).
The research findings support Sri Lankan fishermen’s contention that imposing fines on fishermen and forfeiting fishing vessels are the most effective and fairest way to resolve the Tamil Nadu fishing issue in accordance with regional best practices and international law. The number of Tamil Nadu fishing boats (55) and fishermen (413) arrested by the SLN to the end of September is the second highest since 2017 (83 boats and 453 fishermen), but less than half the number of boats (167) and fishermen (807) arrested in 2014.
A group of Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka Navy
As anyone following this issue will know, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister regularly writes letters to the Indian Prime Minister beseeching the Central Government to resolve the Tamil Nadu fishing issue. Central Government officers recently conducted awareness programmes in Rameswaram, cautioning fishermen not to cross the IMBL. Indian High Courts in Tamil Nadu and New Delhi have both found in favour of Sri Lanka’s right to arrest, prosecute (and if guilty) to fine or imprison Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested for illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters.
The National People’s Power’s manifesto identifies illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels as a key issue affecting marine fisheries and resolves to discourage illegal fishing activities per se. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, is well-positioned to deliver these twin commitments with immediate effect.
The continued arrest of Tamil Nadu fishing boats illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters and prosecution of boat owners, skippers and crew under the amended Act not only strengthens and secures Sri Lanka’s maritime border with India but will also begin the process of rebuilding the livelihoods of tens of thousands of small-scale fishermen in the north. The new President could claim to have caught two fish with one hook!
(Steve Creech is a freelance writer and Executive Director of Pelagikos Pvt Ltd.)
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