Some 37 Indian poachers were arrested along with five trawlers in Sri Lanka’s northern territorial waters over the weekend, a senior official said Tuesday.
The poachers were rounded up from different locations in the island-nation’s northern territorial waters late after dusk, Sri Lanka Naval spokesman Captain Gaya Wickramasinghe said.
In addition to that Sri Lankan naval boats also chased away a large number of other Indian fishing boats that had ventured into the country’s territorial waters, Capt. Wickramasinghe said.
He added that with the recent detection this week the Sri Lankan navy has arrested a total of 174 Indian fishermen and taken into custody 27 trawlers from the start of this year.
The arrested persons along with the trawlers are subsequently handed over to the local police and the fisheries authorities for onward legal action, he said.
The poaching by Indian fishermen in the Sri Lanka’s territorial waters has remained a festering diplomatic issue for both countries over the many years.
The Indian fishermen are known to enter the island’s waters in their hundreds each night and even resort to bottom trawling which remains an outlawed practice under international law.
The Sri Lankan fishermen have for many years sought a solution for the problem since it robs them of their livelihood, but the Sri Lankan navy finds it hard pressed to tackle the issue owing the total lack of logistical material, such as fast-moving craft and surveillance equipment.
The arrested fishermen are subsequently jailed for short period of time and subsequently released following diplomatic pressure from Delhi and elsewhere.
The seized boats are however auctioned after a court order.
