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by Elmo Leonard

Five Sri Lankan multiday boats were arrested by Indian coast guards between November 22 and 28, while returning from fishing in the Arabian Sea through the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone. The crew of 25 are held in remand prison in Chennai, and the vessels are in Indian custody.

The crew have been accused of fishing in the Indian EEZ, Director General of the Department of Fisheries, G. Piyasena said.

Sri Lankan multiday-crafts often spend weeks in the shallow waters of the Arabian Sea for their requirements of shark fins, which have export demand.

Alarmed by the arrests, the captains of the 40 Sri Lankan multiday crafts which were operating in fishing in the Arabian Sea had through radio contacted the Ministry of Fisheries. Following a dialogue between the Minister of Fisheries, Ministry officials, the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, the local Foreign Ministry and the Sri Lanka Navy, the 40 multiday crafts returned to the island.

There are many Sri Lankan fishermen held in Indian and Maldivian prisons, on grounds of violating the territorial rights of these nations. Fisheries Minister Felix Perera and Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner Sumith Nakandala are now trying to secure the release the 25 member crew of the five arrested vessels.

Meanwhile, today, Sri Lanka has around 1394 multiday boats, of which 450 to 500 enter international waters in the Arabian Sea or go as far as the Indonesian Sea of Borneo for their catch.

It is possible to enter the Arabian Sea through the peripheries of the Indian and Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zones. However, yearly large numbers of Sri Lankan fishermen are arrested by the coast guards of these two nations as they pass to and fro to the Arabian Sea.

Minister Felix Perera has requested Ministry officials to seek the advice of the Oceanographic Division the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) to educate fishermen on how to access the Arabian Sea through the EEZ's of India and the Maldives, in accordance with the Law of the Sea of 1982.

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