Northern fishermen hopeful of better future

by P.Krishnaswamy

The Northern fishermen who have faced perpertual threat to their livelihood from their South Indian counterparts have now made a representation to the newly-elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram seeking her assistance. The representation was made in writing after a meeting last week in Kilinochchi between delegations of the Southern fishermen's associations led by Herman Kumara, Convenor of the National Fishermen's Solidarity (NAFSO) and delegations of the Northern fishermen's associations led by S.Thavaratnam.

In the representation they have stated that they were deprived of their livelihood during the long drawn-out war against the LTTE and had also lost much of their fishing gear and vessels, Thavaratnam told the Sunday Obsever. Since the defeat of the LTTE terrorists in May 2009, they are gradually developing their livelihood facilities with hopes of acquiring everything that they had lost in the years ahead. But the poaching is deterring their progress, they have stated.

They have constantly made representations to the Tamil Nadu State Government, through the Ministry of Fisheries, on the threat posed by the poachers to the fertile Northern fishing grounds and the rapid depletion of fish life. Their untraditional methods of fishing, particularly the bottom-trawler fishing, had mainly contributed to this tragic situation, Thavaratnam said.

Fishermen's delegations from both sides had also met on a number of occasions in the past for discussions on ways and means of preventing the depletion but the poaching and the untraditional fishing methods still continued, especially in the coastal sea around the offshore islands like Katchativu, Delft, Nayinativu and Mannar, he said.