Talks deadlocked:

President asks North PC to act on T'Nadu poaching:

by P. Krishnaswamy

President Maithripala Sirisena is likely to tighten regulations for strong action against Indian fisher-poachers, following the deadlock in recent official talks on the issue in Chennai, the 'Sunday Observer' learns.

The President is also understood to have pointed out at a top level meeting in Colombo on Thursday, that the Northern Provincial Council could also act to defend Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Strait against the Tamil Nadu poachers.President Sirisena last Thursday chaired a top level meeting on this matter with representatives of fisher organisations, the Navy and senior leaders of the TNA which control the Northern Provincial administration

Amendments to the law will be made by the AG's Department before being presented to Cabinet and Parliament, he said. The Navy will intensify patrolling the Palk Straits consequent to President Maithripala Sirisena's directive last Thursday to apprehend all fishing vessels entering Sri Lankan territorial waters for poaching. The President issued the directive following his meeting with representatives of the Northern fishermen's unions at the Presidential Secretariat attended by the Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera.

The discussions were centred on what transpired at the May 24 meeting in Chennai between the Sri Lankan fishermen's delegation and their Indian counterparts, fishermen's representatives said.

At the Chennai meeting the Indian delegation insisted that they should be allowed to continue 'trawler fishing' in Sri Lankan fishing waters for 83 days a year for another three years until alternative arrangements were offered by the Tamil Nadu state government and the central government, the sources said adding that they were willing to give up other prohibited methods of fishing, including purse seining ( a method of fishing where shoals of fishes are rounded up and caught using a purse-like net), pair trawling ( trawling with two boats) and the usage of monofilament nets.

The Sri Lankan delegation was resolute in its position that they cannot agree to even a single day's poaching any longer because enough damage has been done to their fishing grounds by Indian fishermen using 'bottom trawler fishing' and other prohibited methods of fishing contributing to the depletion of fish resources and posing a grave threat to their livelihood, the sources said.

While the Government stands by the Northern fishermen and will deal effectively in relation to all their problems, the Northern PC also has powers to handle the issue on their own, the President had stated. The Government of India is ready to extend assistance to resolve the problem amicably and a high level meeting with Tamil Nadu leaders will be held soon to sort out the issue , if the circumstances for holding the meeting are conducive, the President had stated.

Reports saying that the government is adopting a lukewarm approach on the matter was incorrect and coordinated efforts through the Ministries of Defence, Fisheries and Foreign Affairs will be taken to effectively to handle the issue, the President was quoted as saying.

TNA leader R.Sampanthan, TNA parliamentarians Selvam Adaickalanathan and Suresh Premachandran as well as Northern province Fisheries Minister Balasubramaiam Daniswaran accompanied the six fishermen's representatives from Mannar, Jaffna, Mullaityivu and Kilinochchi, the four Northern districts which were worst affected by the decades-long poaching from across the Palk Strait. Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Deputy Fisheries Minister Christy Silva, Fisheries Ministry Secretary Nimal Hettiarachchi, high level security officers and senior officials of the fisheries ministry were among the attendants. Navy spokesman Commander Indika Silva told the Sunday Observer that 20 fishing vessels were apprehended within the last one month. The fishermen , handed over to the police and consequently produced before Court were released while the Court has entrusted the custody of the vessels to the Navy, he said. Many of the 82 fishing vessels that had already been apprehended are also in the custody of the Navy since their owners had not so far come to secure their release, the Navy spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the petition filed by three fishermen's representatives - Mohamed Alam of the Mannar Fishermen's Cooperative Society, Joseph Francis of the Pooneryn Fishermen's Cooperative Society and Anthonypillai Emilian of the Jaffna District Fishermen's Cooperative Society - in the Court of Appeal seeking government intervention to prevent poaching was dismissed last Thursday when it came up for hearing consequent to submissions of the AG's department that all necessary steps on the matter were already in place.