The Palk Bay dispute, involving Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen, can be resolved through a combination of measures such as the ban on bottom trawling, a quota for traditional fishing methods and a bilateral research project to improve marine resources in the region, according to Nirmala Chandrahasan, a veteran Sri Lankan academic.
Answering questions on ways to resolve the dispute, Dr. Chandrahasan, who specialises in international law, especially in the Law of the Sea, said in an email interview to The Hindu that though efforts were under way in India to regulate bottom trawling, they would not be sufficient “without an explicit ban” on the practice. No transition period should be allowed for bottom trawling, which was prohibited by the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. It also went against the spirit of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. ”In fact, one could argue that there has been, in effect, a transitional period since 2009 when the civil war ended in Sri Lanka,” she pointed out.
However, considering the “ethnic, cultural and religious bonds” between the fishing communities of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, the academic, who authored Sri Lanka and the Law of the Sea, suggested the resumption of talks between the fishermen on either side of the Palk Bay. “Subject to the consent of the fishermen of the Province, a system of quota can be worked out under which certain days and times could be earmarked for each group,” she said, adding that the “actual fisherfolk” of Tamil Nadu, using “traditional methods and small boats”, should be distinguished from “businessmen-owners” of trawlers who were not necessarily from the Palk Bay districts.
