More Indian fishermen grabbed in Lanka as dispute heightens

(COLOMBO) – The festering fishing dispute in Sri Lanka’s northern coast heightened on Friday after 15 Indian poachers were rounded up by the Island’s navy along with one vessel.

The poachers were grabbed by the Sri Lankan navy off the coast of Karainagar in the country’s northern waters, a senior naval official said.

He said the Navy continues to conduct regular patrols and operations in Sri Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers, taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen.

He added that apart from that, the navy also chased away a cluster of Indian boats that were poaching deep inside the territorial waters of Sri Lanka.

With Friday’s detection, the Navy has seized a total of 16 Indian poaching trawlers and arrested 125 Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters from the beginning of this year.

Earlier this week Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda vowed not to allow any foreign fishermen Indian or otherwise into the country’s waters and directed the navy to increase its operations in the northern seas towards this end.

The local fishing community has repeatedly complained that Indian poachers were grabbing the bulk of the fish reserves in the region depriving the local fishermen of their legitimate livelihood.