News
Tamil Nadu Govt.’s duplicity in illegal fishing exposed
View(s):By Steve Creech
In 2013, the JVP’s Vijitha Herath was the first Sri Lankan politician to raise the issue in Parliament. The reprehensible silence on the issue by Sri Lankan Tamil politicians is in sharp contrast to the concerns expressed by Herath, foreign affairs minister in the present government. The self-same politicians supposedly represent the interests of northern Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen. Then, the collective silence of Sri Lankan Tamil politicians stemmed from their desire not to rock Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha’s boat; hence, they received political support in their quest for the rights of the Tamil people and demands for Tamil Eelam.
One of the Tamil Nadu trawlers taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Navy while it was engaging in illegal fishing in Sri Lanka's waters
A decade later, House Leader Bimal Ratnayake clearly has fewer qualms—and obviously no vested interests—when it comes to rocking Tamil Nadu’s boat on this issue.
Rathnayake’s recent statement is a timely and honest move, in keeping with the first six months of the NPP government’s tenure. Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? The origins of this seemingly intractable issue lie in Tamil Nadu and nowhere else.
Coastal fisheries is a devolved subject under the Indian Constitution. The right and the responsibility to manage, regulate, conserve and develop coastal fisheries reside exclusively with the state government of Tamil Nadu. The central government in New Delhi can express concern, but only in extreme cases can it issue an advisory or, if there is a breakdown in constitutional machinery, invoke Article 356 of the Constitution.
The central government’s power to investigate the actions of Tamil Nadu public servants is restricted to instances where either the High Court or Supreme Court in New Delhi issues a direction or if Chief Minister M.K. Stalin himself specifically consents to an investigation of the state government’s failure to take appropriate measures to end illegal fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers in Sri Lankan waters.
Until Chief Minister Stalin makes a call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is little that the Indian Prime Minister can do to resolve this issue in the bilateral interests of India and Sri Lanka.
What can Tamil Nadu do to resolve this apparently unsolvable issue? A quick scan of the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, No. 8 of 1983 suggests that there are three simple legal steps that Chief Minister Stalin can take, which would collectively resolve as much as 90% of this issue overnight. Chapter 1, Section 3 (g) of the Act sets limits on the overall length (8 m – 15 m) and engine capacity (15 hp to 120 hp) of mechanised boats fishing in Tamil Nadu waters. Mechanised boats arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy have gotten noticeably bigger and, according to navy sources, considerably more powerful over the last ten years. The first step the Chief Minister can take is to cancel the licences of all mechanised boats measuring more than 15 m or having an engine with a capacity of 120 hp. Box 1 ticked, move on.
Chapter 2, Section 2(3), and the schedule attached state that mechanised fishing vessels shall leave their notified place of anchoring only after 5 am and shall report back at the notified place of anchoring not later than 9 pm. As such, mechanised fishing vessels shall remain at the notified place, anchoring till 5am the following day. The Chief Minister’s second task is to enforce time-bound restrictions on mechanised vessels under the Act, which restricts fishing to daytime hours between 5 am and 9 pm.
There can be little doubt that this temporal regulation was introduced in 1983 to prevent conflicts developing between small-scale fishermen and mechanised fishing vessels. The former fish passively at night, while the latter were prescribed to fish actively during the day. Forty years later, it is still not too late to enforce this law.
The Chief Minister’s third and final step is to instruct the Indian Coastguard to arrest any mechanised vessel that engages in fishing within three nautical miles of the shore. Chapter 2 Section 5 (2) of the Act proscribed mechanised boats from fishing within three nautical miles of the shore. The enforcement of this regulation would have little impact on the issue in Sri Lankan waters, but it would greatly assist small-scale fishermen and fishworkers to recover their livelihoods and rebuild fish stocks in Tamil Nadu.
So, three simple steps for the Chief Minister to take in the coming week—all within the provisions of existing regulations for fisheries management in Tamil Nadu—that would immediately reduce illegal fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers in Sri Lankan waters. The Sri Lankan Navy has sufficient capacity to eliminate the issue thereafter. As the Leader of the House recently made clear, the origins of this issue reside in Tamil Nadu. The resolution of this issue is to be found there too.
(Steve Creech is a freelance
fisheries consultant whose
specialities include Tamil Nadu trawlers’s fishing activities)
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!