Jaffna fishermen make fervent appeal:

Ensure livelihood of Northern fishermen

by Ananth PALAKIDNAR

In the backdrop of the government releasing 130 South Indian fishermen on Friday, the chairperson of the Jaffna Fishermen’s Federation S. Thavaratnam and his deputy A. Emiliyampillai have highlighted the plight of the Northern fisherfolk and called upon the governments of both countries to ensure their livelihood.

Thavaratnam told the Sunday Observer that the Jaffna fisherfolk had suffered immensely due to terrorism which dragged on for three decades in the Peninsula and the country at large.

“The hardships we had faced in the North had driven us to the brink of famine and death.

“With the end of the dark era two years ago, the restrictions that prevailed in the seas around the Jaffna peninsula have now been relaxed and the fisherfolk are gradually stabilising themselves with their fishing activities in the Northern seas.

Therefore, at this juncture the encroachment of any foreign fishing craft into Sri Lanka’s territorial waters should not be tolerated as it would affect the livelihood of thousands of fishermen in the Jaffna peninsula,” Thavaratnam said.

Commenting on Indian fishermen encroaching into Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, he said, that they were not against the South Indian fishermen and added that when Indian fishermen encroach on our seas with their powerful fishing trawlers, all our resources in the seas including the shells were netted on a vast scale.

”Therefore, our fishermen are adversely affected and nothing is left for them to fish in the Northern waters, he said.

He said the South Indian fishing vessels could be seen from a distance of 10-20 kilometres from the shores in Jaffna. “The South Indian vessels come in hundreds and net sea food worth around Indian Rs. 600,000 in our waters.

Their trawlers with huge nets have almost a clean sweep on the sea bed,” Thavaratnam said. He said that he makes a humble request to the Indian government on behalf of the fishermen of Jaffna to ensure that South Indian fishermen do not hamper the livelihood of local fishermen by encroaching into the fishing areas of the Jaffna fisherfolk.

Deputy Chairman of the Jaffna Fishermen’s Federation and Chairman of the Vadamarachchi Fishermen’s Association A. Emiliyampillai told the Sunday Observer that the Jaffna fisherfolk consists of around 100,000 comprising 22,000 families.

“With the dawn of peace in Jaffna we had barely anything for our survival. Unlike others, the fisherfolk had been affected adversely in the peninsula. However, with the restrictions being relaxed in the seas since the early last year, we are gradually beginning to rebuild our lives with our limited resources such as boats and fishing nets.

The Indian trawlers which encroach into our waters not only net the sea food, but they also damage our nets worth several lakhs of rupees on a big scale,” he said.

Emiliyampillai was one of the members in the delegation of the Jaffna fishermen which had toured Tamil Nadu to resolve the issue with regard to fishing in the Northern waters. “We had several rounds of talks with the South Indian fisherfolk in Tiruchchirapalli. Despite the conditions agreed upon it’s a pity to see South Indian fishermen encroaching regularly in our territorial waters”, he said.

He said that the maritime boundaries between the two countries should be clearly demarcated and it should be made easier for both sides to identify their areas in the seas.

Meanwhile a report from Jaffna said that the Indian Consul General based in Jaffna attempted to interfere with the court decision.

Point Pedro Magistrate also stated on such attempt in open Court.

However, the Jaffna based Indian Consul General denied the allegation and said that he did not make any attempt of meddling with the judicial decisions.