Dozens of fishermen in northern Sri Lanka took to the streets on Thursday, blaming Indian fishermen for the recent deaths of two Jaffna fishermen ‘in a clash’ at sea. Agitated fishermen protested the continued use of the method of bottom trawling by Indian fishermen, “ravaging” their seas.

Long-running tensions between fishermen in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province and Tamil Nadu have escalated in recent weeks, following two clashes in the open sea on January 27 and 29, when Indian trawlers reportedly rammed more small Sri Lankan fishing boats.

A few days later, the bodies of two fishermen from the Jaffna Peninsula were found, according to Annalingam Annarasa, who heads the Jaffna District Federation of Cooperative Fishermen’s Unions.

The current hot spot has not only escalated an old dispute, but has also set back proposed fisherman talks and ongoing bilateral attempts to find a solution to the crisis. In the long history of the Indo-Lankan fisheries dispute, Tamil-speaking fishermen on both sides of the Palk Strait have rarely resorted to physical attacks on each other, although the Sri Lankan navy has often accused of attacking and killing Indian fishermen. In 2021, five fishermen from Tamil Nadu died in the Palk Strait.

“After the recent discovery of the bodies of two of our fishermen, everyone is outraged and very worried. Today we demonstrated outside the Governor’s Secretariat, Jaffna District Secretariat and the Indian Consul General’s residence here, demanding that bottom trawling, which is the cause of all these problems, be stopped immediately,” he said. declared Mr. Annarasa. The Hindu.

Sri Lanka banned bottom trawling in 2017 and the following year imposed heavy fines on foreign vessels fishing illegally in its territorial waters. While these measures deterred Indian fishermen for some time, Sri Lankan fishermen in the past two years have again reported an increase in the number of trawlers sighted along their coasts.

“Our governments and fisher leaders have been talking about this for over a decade now, where is the solution? We are willing to talk to fishermen in Tamil Nadu, but only on the condition that they immediately stop using bottom trawling, which has seriously affected the marine resources of the Palk Strait and all our livelihoods that depend on it,” said Mr. Annarasa.

Fishermen in northern Sri Lanka have expressed frustration with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu for stubbornly persisting with the destructive method of bottom trawling, despite their repeated pleas. They also blamed the Sri Lankan Navy for taking inadequate action against violators and the Sri Lankan authorities for failing to implement laws passed specifically to address the problem.

Political support

Significantly, many members of Sri Lanka’s Tamil politics – who rarely clash with Tamil Nadu due to wartime solidarity and support – have joined the fishermen’s struggle over time.

In October 2021, Tamil National Alliance lawmakers MA Sumanthiran and Shanakiyan Rasamanickam led a major maritime rally, demanding that laws against bottom trawling be strictly enforced. Earlier this week, National Tamil People’s Front leader and Jaffna MP Gajen Ponnambalam led a protest against Indian trawlers and Sri Lankan fisheries minister Douglas Devananda, who is also an MP for Jaffna district. Mr Ponnambalam called for urgent UN intervention to resolve the fishing dispute, the State DNews reported Thursday.

Addressing restless fishermen in Jaffna on Thursday, Mr Sumanthiran strongly condemned the actions of the Indian fishermen. “First they [Indian fishermen] dug our marine resources with their bottom trawlers, then they came and destroyed our fishermen’s nets, and now they come for the lives of our fishermen,” he said, assuring his party’s continued support. to struggle “until there is a solution”.