Fishermen protest Colombo government: 'doors open to Indian poaching'

The lack of measures against incursions into the Sri Lankan seas with trawl nets, which are banned in India, is blamed. "Our work is not protected, sometimes we even find ourselves attacked" the unions protest. The Navy: 17 fishing boats stopped since the beginning of 2023.

Colombo (Asia News) - Allowing Indian fishermen to use trawl nets in Sri Lanka's territorial waters is bringing local operators to their knees, reports the All Ceylon Fisher Folk Trade Union.

Union President Aruna Roshantha, speaking at a media briefing in Kandy, denounced the Colombo government, accusing it of weakening the fishermen of this country also by changing the fishing laws.

According to Rosantha due to the use of trawl nets in the south, dynamite in the east and the exploitation of Indian fishermen in the north, Sri Lankan fishermen have become extremely helpless and victims of the fish industry.

Speaking to the media Anthony Fonseka, president of the Kalpitiya Battalangunduwa Fishermen's Society, explained that the Indian government has banned the use of trawlers and for this reason many illegal trawlers from India are engaged in fishing in the waters of Sri Lanka.

Although it is illegal in India, they escape Sri Lankan law and do so very easily in our waters. “The Sri Lankan government and navy do not take action against them. Sometimes we even find ourselves being attacked by them,” he commented.

Furthermore, Dinesh Suranjan Fernando, general secretary of the All Ceylon Fisher Folk Tread Union, told Asia News that fishing families from Uchchamunai, Battalangunduwa and Kalpitiya in Puttlam district, Mannar, Kilinochchiya, Jaffna and Mullaithivu are the most affected by the Indian trawling. “In these districts, more than 25 thousand fishing families are affected.”

Fishermen's leaders said that – despite the presence of many institutions such as the Nara Institute, the Maritime Safety Authority, the Department of Coastal Conservation and the Central Environment Authority – their work is not being done at all protected

Meanwhile, the Northern Naval Command said it had deployed a fast attack boat in recent days to chase away a group of Indian poaching boats, identified off the coast of Kakarathivu island and the Kovilan lighthouse.

So far in 2023, the Navy claims to have seized 17 Indian poaching vessels and apprehended 110 Indian fishermen in the island's waters and handed them over to the Mailadi Fisheries Inspector for subsequent legal action.