By Maheesha Mudugamuwa and Franklin R. Satyapalan

Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises Development Minister Douglas Devananda said yesterday that a mid-sea protest, against Indian fishermen poaching in Lankan waters, would be staged if the bilateral talks over the issue, between Sri Lanka and India, failed.

Indian fishermen, mainly from Tamil Nadu, are poaching illegally in Lankan waters on a massive scale and on a daily basis posing a serious threat to the livelihoods of local fishermen, Minister Devananda said.

The Minister noted that from time to time there were talks on the issue, but little or nothing had been done to prevent intrusions.

Devananda told The Island that a protest would be staged by over 5,000 Lankan fishermen.

The Indian fishermen were destroying Sri Lanka’s aquatic resources by using illegal fishing methods and by continuing to intrude into the country’s territorial waters in thousands of boats daily despite warnings, he pointed out.

Jaffna District Fishermen complained that the Indian fishermen were using banned fishing methods and as a result some local fishermen had given up fishing as they could not compete with the poachers.

Meanwhile, Prof. A. S. Soosai, of the Jaffna University alleged that all hopes of the fishing community, in the Northern Province, for a brighter tomorrow in the post-war era had been shattered as illegal methods of fishing, such as bottom trawling, dynamiting and the use of drag nets was also being continued unabated by some local fishermen with the connivance of powerful UPFA politicians in the Mannar and the Jaffna districts.

However, Minister Devananda and Fisheries and the Aquatic Resources Development Ministry denied the allegations made by Prof. Soosai and said that the use of illegal fishing methods by local fishermen had reduced drastically and it was the Indian fishermen who were using those illegal methods.

However, Sri Lanka and India will soon ink an agreement to draw a fishing boundary in the Palk Strait and end the continuing battle between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Indian fishermen invading Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

Indian fishermen frequently accuse the Sri Lankan Navy of attacking them near the boundary line. The Navy has repeatedly denied the claims by the Tamil Nadu fishermen saying that the Indians have not provided credible evidence to substantiate their claims.

Navy Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasooriya said that on earlier occasions the Navy had taken legal action against Indian Fishermen who had entered Lankan waters illegally.

He said, “We did not carry out any attacks against the Indian fishermen.”COURTESY:THE ISLAND