'Cross-border' issue to be discussed tomorrow:

Fisherfolk crucial in talks

By P. Krishnaswamy

The eagerly awaited follow-up of the January 27, 2014 Chennai Talks, will take place in Colombo tomorrow, Monday, between the fishing communities across the Palk Strait on resolving the long-traumatized "cross-border" issue, with the presence of senior government officials of the two countries.

Following repeated protests and mounting waves of complaints from the Northern fishermen over the decades-long poaching by their Indian counterparts and all talks in the previous years, both state level and fishermen's level, having failed, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dr. Rajitha Senaratne made concerted efforts to sort out the issue and visited New Delhi and held discussions with his Indian counterpart, Sharad Pawar on January 12 ahead of the Chennai Talks.

Minister Senaratne also met Indian State Minister Manishankar Aiyar and held discussions. Issues related to fishing in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka were subjected to broad discussion at the meetings.

It was agreed to swap 42 of the fishermen in detention immediately and to release all the remaining fishermen in batches within a month together with their fishing vessels. Agreement was also reached on promoting sustainable fisheries and protecting the environment for fish breeding.

A six-member joint committee to resolve other fishing related issues was formed and the committee also held its first meeting on January 16.

Director General of the Fisheries Department Nimal Hettiarachchi, Consultant to the Fisheries Department, Dr. S. Subasinghe and Additional Solicitor General, Suhada Gamlath were appointed to the committee on behalf of Sri Lanka while the three members representing India were headed by Secretary to the Indian Union Ministry of Agriculture.

The Chennai Talks between representatives of the fishing communities, with the presence of high level Ministry officials of the two countries, were held on the initiative of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (CM) Ms Jayalalithaa Jayaram.

At the talks the Indian fishermen's representatives agreed to not venture out into Sri Lankan waters, and not to take recourse to prohibited methods of fishing, enforced in Sri Lanka, mainly the much detested bottom trawler fishing , for 30 days until further discussions. But the Indian fishermen had violated the undertaking and the dates fixed for subsequent talks on the issue were deferred on more than three occasions.

Three among the fishermen's representatives who took part in the New Delhi and the Chennai Talks and attending tomorrow's talks and another stakeholders told the Sunday Observer their stand point on the issue.

Naganathy Ponnambalam, President of the Jaffna District Rural Fisheries Federation and Vice President of the National Fisheries Federation (NFF) said that he is 76 years and had associated with all ministers incharge of fisheries since Independence, beginning from the tenure of G.G. Ponnambalam who was the first minister incharge of fisheries after Independence.

To him none of them measured up to Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne who is genuinely concerned over the welfare of the fishing communities of the country and over the problems of the Northern fishermen, who are suffering mainly due to poaching by the Indian fishermen.

He even went to the extent of banning Southern fishermen from going to the Northern seas for fishing in an effort to help the Northerners to somewhat offset their losses during the three-decade long terrorist problem.

Ponnambalam said that he has over 48,000 fishermen in the membership of his fisheries organisation and in the Northern province over 100,000 families are dependent on fisheries for their livelihood.

It is ironic that those across the Palk Strait who are vociferous over the problems of the Northern Tamils do not think of the life and death struggle of the fishermen due to poaching. Those who operate small time boats and mechanised boats are the traditional and genuine Tamil Nadu fishermen and they do not pose any threat to the livelihood of the Northern fishermen. But trawler fishing across the Palk Strait is big time, highly politicized business and this has posed a threat to the Northern fishermen, he said.

They come to the very coast along Delft, Mannar and Madagal. This should not be permitted at any cost and the livelihood problem of the Northern fishermen should be viewed and addressed in a humanitarian perspective by all concerned, he said.

Albert Justin Soysa, President of the Mannar District Fishermen's Federation said that altogether 20 of them representing fishermen's organisations in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu Trincomalee, Puttalam, Negombo, Beruwala and Kalutara are taking part in tomorrow's talks.

At the Chennai Talks, he was head of the Sri Lankan fishermen's delegation. It was disappointing that the Tamil Nadu fishermen's representatives deliberately violated the mutual agreement reached in Chennai and resumed their destructive bottom trawler fishing and other banned methods of fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters one week before the agreed 30-day period.

The undertaking was signed by both sides and endorsed by the Secretary to the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Ministry, after it was sent for the approval of the Tamil Nadu CM, Justin Soysa said. Poaching continues to deprive the livelihood of the Northern fisher people who had not ventured into the sea for three long decades before the Government's military victory over terrorism and they want stern and humanitarian steps to redress this plight, he said.

D.Dayananda Silva , President of the Kalutara District Fishermen's Organisation and Treasurer of the NFF said that they want both the International Maritime Law and the law of our land on fisheries be honoured by political leaders across the Palk Strait and their delegation would insist on it at the talks tomorrow. He is attending tomorrow's talks and had attended both the previous New Delhi and Chennai Talks where the need to abide by the laws in force, the threats posed to the industry due to the prohibited methods of fishing and the livelihood problems of the Northern fishermen were clearly explained, he said.

All fisheries unions throughout the country, in about 22 districts, uniformly oppose the poaching that poses a threat to the livelihood of the Northern fishermen, he said. It is unfortunate that the Northern fishermen who had suffered during he 30-year-long are continuing to be deprived of heir livelihood even after terrorism was defeated and peace was restored , he said.

Noor Mohamed Alam, President of the Union of the Mannar District Fishermen's Cooperative Societies said that they would not cede the right of the Northern fishermen to do fishing freely and independently in their traditional fishing grounds. Several hundreds of trawlers from across the Palk Strait were engaged in throughout-the-year-poaching in the Northern territorial fishing waters.

In August 2010, their representatives held discussions with their Indian counterparts and reached a tentative agreement, to be subsequently approved by the Sri Lankan government, on limiting the number of days in a year for the Indian side to do fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters and also marking a boundary line for such entries.

However, the agreement was not approved by the Government for good reasons, Alam said. They believed that an agreement will be reached at tomorrow's discussions or in subsequent meetings on safeguarding the welfare of the Northern fishermen and their territorial fishing waters, Alam said.