Depletion of marine resources, the main concern:

High level committee will resolve cross-border issues

by P. Krishnaswamy

The appointment of a high level committee to address the fishermen’s cross-border issue is now at its consultative stage and will be finalised soon, Deputy Minister of External Affairs Neomal Perera told the Sunday Observer.

The committee will comprise all stakeholders of the two countries, including Ministry officials, representatives of the relevant Indian State governments and the union territories, fishermen’s unions and NGOs, he said. Neighbourly relations with India are now at its best and the utmost care will be taken to preserve and foster goodwill between the two countries for the benefit of fishermen on both sides, he said.

Sri Lanka’s major concern is the depletion of her marine resources in most of her traditional fishing areas in the Northern seas and the ravage of its breeding grounds, including the robust coral reef along the Mannar Basin. This is caused mainly due to the illegal fishing methods and all measures will be taken to prevent it, the Deputy Minister said.

The chairman of the Federation of Jaffna District Fishermen’s Cooperative Union’s S. Thavaratnam who led a 21-member Northern fishermen’s delegation to Tamil Nadu in mid August last year told the Sunday Observer that they represented the bulk of the Northern fishermen and were totally opposed to the illegal fishing methods that have continuously contributed to the destruction of their fishing resources in recent years.

He said that during the five-day visit of the fishermen’s delegation led by him last year they discussed these problems with their Indian counterparts and with the officials of the State Government but were unable to work out a proposal acceptable to both sides.

To prevent any further depletion of their marine resources they have begun to apprehend fishermen who resort to such illegal fishing methods and hand them over to the police, irrespective of which country they belong to, Thavaratnam said.

A convenor of the National Fishermen’s Solidarity (NAFSO), a fishermen’s NGO that visited Tamil Nadu with the fishermen’s delegation said that they welcomed the decision of the Government to appoint a committee including all stakeholders to resolve the fishermen’s cross-border issue.

The use of ‘monofilament nets’ and bottom trawler fishing contributed mainly to the depletion of our marine resources and this should be stopped in the best interests of the fishermen’s livelihood, he said.