The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday arrested 12 Indian fishermen near the coast of Point Pedro in Jaffna, on charges of fishing illegally in the island’s territorial waters. Their mechanised boat has been seized, Navy spokesman Captain Indika De Silva said.
The arrest comes weeks after the nearly two month-long fishing ban in Tamil Nadu— an annual practice to allow for breeding of fish— ended. Tamil Nadu fishermen have since resumed fishing.
Meanwhile, northern Sri Lankan fishermen have raised concerns over the return of Indian fishing trawlers near their shores, aggravating fears of losing their livelihoods, already under enormous strain amid Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
Recently, northern fisher leaders appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for a meeting, expressing keenness to hold discussions and amicably resolve the long-dragging conflict between fishermen on either side of the Palk Strait.
The problem facing the two Tamil-speaking fishing communities of India and Sri Lanka also remains a sensitive bilateral issue for over a decade.
