India and Sri Lanka fishermen issues :

For the last three-four decades, the fisherman issues in and around the PARK BAY’ & the ‘GULF OF MANNAR’ region have persisted and have affected the bilateral relations between Indian and Sri Lanka.

Reasons for the issue:

• Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu have largely exhausted their fisheries resources in India.s EEZ:  Because they mostly used an unsustainable fishing practice known as “Bottom Trawling”.

In Bottom Trawling:

Mechanized boats make use of deep trawler nets to scoop up anything in their path, the bottom of the sea. They end up catching huge quantities of fish (many of which are not even consumed) and they even cause serious environmental degradation.

Impacts :

1. Serial resources depletion: The practice is unsustainable, the practice does not provide enough time or replenishment.
2. Causes damage to sea floors: and other many marine animals including coral reefs.
3. In the long run, it can even disrupt the biogeochemical channels.
4. Reducing carbon sequestration rates.

Hence bottom trawling has been prohibited by several countries. But despite all the drawbacks, bottom trawlers are still persistent in the Indian waters along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IML) with Sri Lanka.

• Indian fishermen venture into the Sri Lankan waters which brings them into direct conflict with the Sri Lankan Navy, Coast Guards, and Fishermen.

• Many of such fishermen have either been killed or arrested or detained for many years.

• Back in the 1970s, India and Sri Lanka settled their maritime line by signing various agreements in 1974 & 1976. Through these agreements, India ceded ‘Katchatheevu Island’ to Sri Lanka where Indian fishermen used to enjoy ‘ traditional fishing rights”. Later Indian fishermen lost their fishing rights but they were allowed to get access to that Island for cultural and religious purposes only. Tamil Nadu’s fishermen who felt affected by this continued to blatantly violate the boundary line and cross over to Sri Lankan waters. This is also an aspect that has kept the fisherman issue.

• During the Sri Lankan Civil War waters in and around ‘Park Bay’ and ‘Gulf of Mannar’ became a conflict zone: Both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Navy were known to use these waters and fishermen from Tamil Nadu were getting caught in this conflict.

To resolve this issue:

A joint working group was set up in 2004 but unfortunately, it is yet to make any progress and hence no permanent solution has been found.