In a fresh incident, the Sri Lankan Navy on Saturday arrested 22 Tamil Nadu fishermen on charges of poaching at Delft Island.
Three mechanised boats with registration - IND-TN-10-MM 84, IND-TN-10-MM 88 and IND-TN-10-MM 340 – , and the catch in them were seized. According to officials of the Fisheries Department, the fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai Port, and were likely to be produced before a court after interrogation.
Meanwhile, tempers ran high in the fishermen colonies at Rameswaram, Mandapam and Thangachimadam. Fishing resumed, after the annual 61-day ban, on June 15. Within two days, three fishermen from the coastal district died after a mechanised boat developed snag. Now, these fresh arrests have brought psychological pressure and anxiety in fishermen, P. Jesu Raja, a fishermen leader, said.
In Thangachimadam, fishermen associations convened an urgent meeting and unanimously resolved to boycott fishing with immediate effect. Presiding over the meeting, Mr. Raja said that, as a mark of protest against the arrests, the fishers would not put out to sea till the governments intervened and resolved the issue.
The resolution, adopted at the meeting, stated that since 2018, over 150 mechanised boats had been impounded and remained in the ports of the island nation. The Union government should intervene and help the fishermen retrieve their boats, and provide funds to repair their trawlers, it added. The governments have remained silent for long. “We have no option. Our families are confused, and children are under constant fear. Parents are worried about the rising debts,” he added.
Officials said that 507 boats had ventured into the sea on Saturday, and were set to return to the shore on Sunday evening or Monday morning.
Appeal to govt.
Fishermen associations have also appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to take up the issue with the Union government, and secure the release of the arrested fishermen and their boats. Meanwhile, TMC (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan on Sunday condemned the arrest of the fishermen, and urged the Ministry of External Affairs to control the Sri Lankan Navy’s “excess”. He further demanded, in a statement, that the Centre urge the Sri Lankan government to release the fishers.
