(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lanka Navy on Thursday night seized five Indian trawlers along with 32 fishermen who were allegedly poaching in the island-nation’s territorial waters, a senior official said on Friday.
The poachers were apprehended off the Talaimannar Coast near Delft Island in the country’s northern waters while several others were chased away, Naval Spokesman Captain Gayan Wickramasinghe said.
The arrested Indian fishermen along with their vessels and fishing gear were subsequently handed over to the relevant authorities for follow up action, he said.
Thursday detection brings the number of suspected Indian poachers to be apprehended from the start of this year to 178 and the number of fishing craft to 23, Captain Wickramasimghe added.
Poaching by Indian fishermen in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters has remained a festering issue for more than a decade despite several rounds of talks between Colombo and Delhi to bring a lasting solution the issue.
It was only the other day that Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda sought Cabinet approval to set up ‘Sea Guards’ made up of local fishermen to assist the navy in its combat against poachers.
Minister Devananda warned that the poachers were also resorting to unregulated methods of fishing such as bottom trawling that sweeps the sea bed of the most miniature species and in the process there is a large threat to future marine life in the region.
He also complained that the local fishermen in the north have been deprived of their legitimate livelihood owing to the poaching menace of the Indian poachers and called on the Government to implement more tough measures in order to discourage the intruders.
The arrested fishermen are subsequently released with only a warning after spending a few days in remand prison.
