Resolving the fishing issue between Indian and Sri lanka

Context: Fishermen from Tamil Nadu keep getting caught with alarming regularity in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka for “poaching”. 

• Irrespective of the circumstances, a potential solution to the dispute relies on the response from the respective governments of India and Sri Lanka.

Key Complaints raised by Sri Lanka

• It has been accusing Indian fishermen of poaching in its waters.
• Indian trawlers violate the IMBL (international maritime boundary line) and fish in Lankan waters, depriving its own boats of catch.
• Trawlers used by the Indian fishermen damage the fragile ecosystem of the sea. They allege that heavy nets used by the Indian fishermen badly affect the region’s marine life impacting fish production and marine biodiversity

Impact

• Its navy has been arresting Indian fishermen and capturing Indian vessels on charges of trespassing
• As per an estimate, Sri Lankan authorities have impounded 84 boats.

About Bottom trawling

• Bottom trawling is a method of fishing that involves dragging heavy weighted nets across the sea floor, in an effort to catch fish.
• It’s a favoured method by commercial fishing companies because of two reasons
• They can catch large quantities of product in one go.
• Helps in catching deep water species.

Key Implications

• When dragging the large, weighted nets across the seafloor, everything that happens to be in the way gets swept up in the net too.
• This has an impact on the biodiversity of the ocean, and also means many species are being fished to the brink simply as a consequence of commercial activities, not as the target of them.

Issue

• Indian fishermen use mechanised boats with highly exploitative fishing nets unlike most of the poor fishermen in Sri Lankan coast who use traditional fishing methods.

Key Reason behind Indian fishermen venture into Sri Lanka waters

• Depletion of fisheries on the Indian side
• It is driven by livelihood concerns

Joint Working Group on Fisheries (JWG) (2016)
The JWG included

• Expediting the transition towards ending the practice of bottom trawling at the earliest
• Framing procedures for returning fishermen arrested by both sides, and
• The possibility of joint patrolling.
• They had agreed to set up a hotline between their Coast Guards to address the long-standing issue of fishermen

Key Suggestion

• The governments of the two countries should call an early meeting of the Joint Working Group as it was last held in 2020.
• The Centre should speak to Sri Lanka and secure the release of Indian fishermen.
• It also needs to sit with the Tamil Nadu government and work out a solution to the crisis brewing in the waters between the Tamil Nadu coast and Sri Lanka.
• The Central and the State Government should consider providing additional incentives and concessions to fishermen
• The Indian government can also propose assistance for the fishermen of the Northern Province as a gesture of goodwill.

Road Ahead

• India and Sri Lanka must bring all the stakeholders together, activate the Joint Working Group on Fisheries and secure the livelihoods of their respective population.