Northern fishermen up in arms against poaching

by P.Krishnaswamy

Northern fishermen say that the traditional fishing grounds in the Palk Straits and the Mannar Basin should be protected from others poaching in their waters, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the Sunday Observer.

This was in response to comments on a statement purportedly made by Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, during his three-day visit to Sri Lanka, that “fishermen of the two countries should be encouraged to do deep sea fishing instead of confining themselves to their traditional areas.

“Some Southern fishermen go deep sea fishing for tuna while the Northern fishermen who go for the smaller varieties and shrimps have made repeated requests to the Government and their Indian counterparts to protect their traditional fishing areas, the Minister said, adding that they were opposed to the ‘Common fishing zones’.

The visit of the Indian delegation on September 17 for the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting to discuss the issue had to be postponed as the delegation was to include representatives from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and other Indian States where Sri Lankan fishermen are now being detained. The meeting will take place shortly, the Minister said.

S.Thavaratnam, President of the Union of Northern Fishermen’s Cooperative Societies (UNFCS), an affiliated body of 115 fishermen’s societies, John Nixon Croos, Secretary of the Union of Mannar District Fishermen’s Cooperative Societies ( UMDFCS) and Savarian Nocholas Logu, President of the Pesalai Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (PFCS) told the Sunday Observer that they had lost everything during the three-decade-long terrorism and even after peace dawned they have no freedom to return to their livelihood in their traditional fishing areas due to unrestricted poaching and threats.

Their fertile fishing grounds are being ravaged due to obnoxious methods of fishing and this posed a threat of annihilating all fish resources in the next three to four years.

They highlighted their plight to the Government and their Indian counterparts but poaching went unabated.

They have held continuous discussions with their Indian counterparts on this vexed issue.

They were not opposed to the Indian fishermen but only hoped that their source of livelihood be protected, they said.