Sri Lanka pursues bilateral solution to maritime boundary trespassing

by damith
July 7, 2024 1:17 am 0 comment 1.3K views

By Chamikara Weerasinghe

As Indian trawlers in Sri Lanka’s territorial seas have caused biodiversity losses, seabed damage, habitat destruction, and loss of marine species running into billions of rupees, Sri Lanka has ventured into finding what would be a “bilateral solution” to the issue with the Government of India, said State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha De Silva. He was responsding to the Sunday Observer question as to why the Government had not taken any action to claim damages done to its marine environment by unlawful Indian bottom-trawling.

These trawlers enter Sri Lanka’s waters, violating the International Maritime Boundary Lines of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar.

State Minister De Silva said that the issue of Indian trawlers engaging in IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing is currently under discussion between Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, his Indian counterparts, and Indian fisheries authorities.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently called for a “once and for all solution” to the problem of ‘poaching’ by Indian fishers, as bottom trawlers and purse seine nets are banned fishing gear in India and Sri Lanka.

He said that President Wickremesinghe had discussed the poaching issue during his recent visit to India, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

President Wickremesinghe has since designated his Chief of Staff, Sagala Ratnayake, to head a Sri Lankan delegation of experts in talks with the Indian Government regarding the issue.

Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said that he will discuss the issues on IUU fishing by Indian vessels entering Sri Lankan waters and its impact on the livelihood of Northern and Eastern fishermen during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Ministry official said.

Minister Devananda in 2020 under a delegation headed by then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, made a proposal to Prime Minister Modi to set up a Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar Joint Marine Fisheries Resources Management Authority to address fisheries issues between the two countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had responded favourably to that proposal.

Sri Lankan fishers in the North and the East have been complaining for many years that they had lost their livelihoods because Indian trawlers violated the international maritime boundary line (IMBL) for indiscriminate poaching, taking away their fish catch to India. Over1,000 Indian trawlers, mainly from Tamil Nadu – Ramanathapuram, Puthukodai, Nagapatnam, and Karaikal – cross the IMBL in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar and fish in Sri Lankan waters.

They said that Indian fishers have been destroying their traditional fishing grounds. The fishermen are discouraged from venturing into the waters due to the risk of damage to their nets and boats and threats to their safety posed by Indian trawlers.

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