News
Chinese fishing in troubled northern Sri Lankan waters
View(s):By S. Rubathesan
Northern fishermen are caught up in a geo-political net as a new actor, China is trying to enter the fray amid the ongoing Indo-Lanka fisheries conflict involving Indian fishermen continuing their illegal bottom trawling in Sri Lankan territorial waters.
To woo the Northern fishermen, China granted Rs 1.5 billion worth of humanitarian assistance, which includes a prefabricated housing scheme, fishing equipment, and packs of rice for fisherfolk in the Northern and Eastern provinces last June.
The three assistance packages, of Rs 500m each, would be the largest offered by China in the two provinces in the post-war period, where India has also invested heavily in development, livelihood and investment projects.
The senior Chinese official meeting fishermen leaders
Beneficiaries were selected through the fishermen’s unions, and dry ration packs along with housing, were distributed in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Kalmunai.
In 2023, China donated kerosene to 27,000 fishing boats island-wide — 150 litres per boat.
Earlier this month, Charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo Zhu Yanwei visited Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Jaffna and Mannar districts distributed 2,470 food packages worth Rs 16m to those affected by recent floods.
As part of his visit to the North, the senior official also met with representatives of fishermen leaders on February 10 at a hotel in Jaffna where the delegation was briefed on difficulties, particularly bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in the Northern sea.
“The delegation was keen to understand our struggle and assured us to help us in the future, particularly on fisheries aquatic developments and knowledge transfer,’’ a fishermen leader who took part in the meeting said.
When a delegation led by China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong visited North last December, a livelihood grant worth Rs 12 million was handed over to Governor N. Vethanayahan as well.
Annalingam Annarasa, secretary of Kayts Fishermen Cooperative Society, told the Sunday Times that fishermen believe that this government also is not genuine in addressing the issues they are facing in addition to poaching by Indian fishermen, such as illegal fishing by locals including trawling, dynamite fishing, aquatic farms without licenses etc.
Referring to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s speech in Pasiyoor, Jaffna, where he declared that bottom trawling by Indian fishermen at the expense of Northern fishermen will not be allowed, the fishermen leader asked whether the government has any sinister move by selectively prioritising conflict with the neighbouring country.
“The government should strictly implement the law along with recent amendments introduced to the Fisheries Act. We suspect whether the government is turning us (Northern) against Indian fishermen for political and geo-political gains,” he said.
Meanwhile, fishermen from Northern islands — Delft, Nainathivu, Eluvaithivu, Mandaithivu, Kayts and Punkudithivu — have decided to protest in front of the Fisheries Department office in Jaffna next Thursday against ongoing illegal mechanised bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in the Northern sea.
S. Anthony Vimalathas, president of Mandaithivu Fishermen Union, confirmed the protest.
“In Mandaithivu, we witnessed Indian bottom trawlers from 3.5 nautical miles from the coast on Wednesday. We informed the navy but they were not arrested. Our fishermen’s fishing nets were also damaged. We are tired of making complaints.’’
Some 67 Indian bottom trawlers seized last year by fisheries authorities are to be auctioned. The massive mechanised trawlers are anchored at fisheries jetties denying space for boats of local fisherfolk.
Earlier this week, fishermen from Gurunagar, Jaffna secured an abandoned massive Indian fishing trawler net to find out that the fish catch, ranging from juveniles (2 inches) to bigger ones (7.8’’) in the net. The total catch was estimated at Rs 400,000.
“Our fishermen have varieties of specific nets with varying net hole sizes for fishing but they (Indian fishermen), wipe out everything. If this continues, we don’t know whether there will be any fish left in our traditional fishing grounds in the coming years,” the fishermen leader said.
In Mandathivu, where the union handed out Chinese rice packs recently, many families rejected the sticky rice. “In our union, at least 100 kilograms of rice is held for months,” he said.
“If the government can ensure that laws of the country are properly implemented in our sea, that would be more than enough for us to secure our livelihood. We don’t want to depend on this humanitarian assistance anymore,” fishermen leader Mr Vimalathas stressed.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!