Conflict over fishing is a major point of dispute between India and Sri Lanka
Recently, Sri Lanka amended its Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, making it illegal for fishermen to operate or own a boat engaged in bottom trawling.
Despite fish workers in the southern coastal districts of Tamil Nadu withdrawing their indefinite strike and resuming work last week following assurances from chief minister MK Stalin, the situation remains tense.
The need for immediate action to address their safety concerns is palpable in Rameswaram and other major fish landing centres across the region.
In the latest incident, the Sri Lankan Navy attacked multiple fishing trawlers from the region, compelling hundreds of workers on board to retreat at gunpoint while they were fishing near the disputed Katchatheevu islet on Tuesday, August 20.
Returning to the Rameswaram jetty, they reported that Sri Lankan naval personnel on fast patrol crafts surrounded their fishing boats and indiscriminately pelted stones at them, causing injuries and significant damage to fishing nets, valued at several lakhs of rupees. Their plight underscores the urgent need for the state and central governments to ensure their safety and protect their livelihoods.
The incident occurred two days after the Sri Lankan Coast Guard released 13 fishermen who had been arrested in June. They were from Rameswaram and neighbouring Pudukottai and were apprehended for illegal fishing across the international boundary. The boats were seized, and they were sent to prison.
The external affairs ministry intervened to facilitate their release. However, seven fishermen arrested on July 12 are still in a Sri Lankan jail awaiting trial.
Talking to HT, SP Jesuraja, president of the All India Mechanised Boats Fishermen Welfare Association, said that the decision to go on an indefinite strike was made on August 2 after an attack on a fishing vessel near Kachaitheevu was reported. A Sri Lankan naval ship hit the fishing trawler, sinking it. One fisherman died while another is still missing. Jesuraja said that at least 80 fishermen from southern Tamil Nadu remain detained in various Sri Lankan prisons; 120 mechanised boats were seized as well.
Fishing problems around Katchatheevu
Katchatheevu, a small strip of land spanning just about 1.9 square kilometres, is located in the Palk Strait, an ocean stretch that separates India and Sri Lanka.
It was a significant campaign issue in the last Lok Sabha election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of gifting it to Sri Lanka. In addition, the BJP state president, K Annamalai, declared the party would take it back if voted back to power.
Compared to India's contentious land borders, which follow some of the world's most active geopolitical fault lines, the Palk Strait remained tranquil until the 1980s. At its narrowest point, there are 18 miles of open water between the Sri Lankan island of Mannar and the Indian island of Rameswaram, which thrusts eastward into the strait like a stiletto and remains the flash point.
Now, as the number of boats on the strait increases and climate change adversely affects the environment, fishermen from both countries have fewer fish to catch.
Tensions have remained high in the Palk Strait since 1983, a year that marked a turning point for Sri Lanka. It plunged into a three-decade-long civil war, pitting its Sinhalese majority in the south against the Tamil minority in the north. This historical context adds weight to the current conflict over prawn fishing.
Around that time, Indian Tamil fishermen, who share the same ethnic background as their counterparts in Sri Lanka, began crossing the maritime border regularly to fish and smuggle goods. The Sri Lankan navy viewed every Indian vessel as a potential threat and began attacking and killing Indian fishermen. In about three decades, over 300 fishermen have been killed.
The civil war ended in 2009 with the assassination of LTTE chief V Prabhakaran. The problems faced by the Indian fishermen, however, remain despite New Delhi repeatedly taking up the issue with Colombo.
Indian fishermen have been subjected to repeated arrests and subsequent legal remands by the Sri Lankan navy, which accuses the Indian fish workers of violating the International Maritime Border Line and fishing in Sri Lankan waters. The navy's major complaint has been that Indian fishermen fish with trawlers, which are prohibited in the island nation.
According to Marine biologists and other specialists in fishing and issues related to deep-sea fishing, the debate is mostly about the rights of the diminishing fish, which were previously abundant across the boundary.
“The first and most important thing that India needs to do is take strong diplomatic action and demand, in no uncertain terms, that our fishermen be released immediately. Second, our fishermen should not use the prohibited trawlers in Sri Lankan waters. They should also honour the Blue Resolution, which stands for modern deep-sea fishing that does not impact the marine wealth of Sri Lankan waters,'' said A P Lipton, retired principal scientist with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.
He suggested forming a Palk Bay Authority (PBA) that would include marine biologists, fishing experts, government representatives, and other relevant experts.
Experts said that bottom trawling involves scraping the sea beds to catch fish, particularly sought-after prawns, and capturing other marine life, such as coral and seaweed. The method is harmful as it damages spawning grounds and the marine ecosystem and depletes future fish populations. Although bottom trawling is banned in Sri Lanka, it is still practised in India. The Indian government incentivises this method with subsidies due to its productivity and ability to earn foreign exchange.
According to A Bijukumar, a marine scientist based in Thiruvananthapuram, the government must convince large trawling corporations to switch to more environmentally friendly fishing methods.
Recently, Sri Lanka amended its Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, making it illegal for fishermen to operate or own a boat engaged in bottom trawling. Violating this law carries a fine of Sri Lankan rupees 50,000 (US$155) and up to two years of imprisonment.
Ramanathapuram district collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon said that the government is promoting alternative fishing methods within its territory, such as deep-sea fishing without trawlers. He added that consultations are ongoing with local fishermen to encourage the adoption of safer practices.
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