Experts call for combination of toughness and innovativeness to curb poaching in Sri Lankan waters

By P.K. Balachandran 

Express News Service: Sri Lankan and Indian experts in fishing say that a combination of toughness and innovativeness on the part of the Indian Government will help curb poaching by Tamil Nadu fishermen in Sri Lankan waters significantly.

Speaking to Express on condition of anonymity, the experts said that if the Governments of India and Sri Lanka continue to be lenient towards the poachers, as they are now, poaching can never be stopped.

The determination of Tamil Nadu fishermen to defy odds and fish in Sri Lankan waters is evident from the fact that despite losing 111 boats to the Sri Lankans, they keep coming and inflict a loss of Rs. 9 billion ($ 60.5 million) on Sri Lanka annually.

“What is needed is toughness on both sides and an innovative economic strategy in India to divert Tamil Nadu fishermen from trawling on the Sri Lankan side of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL),” an expert said.

The experts noted that both India and Sri Lanka are veering towards a tougher stance and said that this trend should be kept up.

For example, the Sri Lankan side has been impounding the poachers’ boats, and New Delhi has not done anything to curb this practice because New Delhi also believes that impounding of boats will curb poaching over time.

At the last bilateral ministerial level meeting in New Delhi, India, for the first time, agreed to consider joint Indo-Sri Lankan naval/coast guard patrolling, which had been a long standing Sri Lankan demand. 

The Joint Working Group on Fisheries (JWGF) which has now been set up, will have representatives of the navies and coast guards of the two countries. Significantly, the JWGD does not have representatives of the Tamil Nadu government, which means that New Delhi and Colombo will be freer to take decisions.

On the Sri Lankan side, a decision has been taken to enact a law to ban illegal fishing and illegal methods of fishing with a hefty fine for those who disobey. The bill is in Parliament. No decision has been taken on the quantum of the fine though the Minister of Fisheries, Mahinda Amaraweera, has threatened to impose a fine of Rs. 150 million or INR 7 crore. 

According to the Sri Lankan Government, a hefty fine to curb illegalities in fishing is a commitment made to the European Union to prevent EU from blacklisting Sri Lanka. The act would apply to Sri Lankan vessels as well as foreign vessels fishing in Sri Lankan waters.

However, if the IMBL is police strictly, India and Tamil Nadu will have to plan for potential unemployment or underemployment of fishermen on the Indian side.  

Indian experts, speaking on the basis of anonymity, said that the best solution would be to ban all the 3,000 trawlers now in operation on the lines of the demonetization of 85 percent of the currency notes in circulation. Tamil Nadu, aided by the Centre, could buy back the trawlers or give the fishermen an adequate compensation. 

Alternatively, in addition to a buyback or compensation facility, the Central and State governments could divert the fishermen to other occupations, trades and businesses, by offering loans and training facilities.

Indian experts contend that only a section of Indian fishermen are “traditional” fishermen wedded to sea. Many have strayed into the profession and can switch easily if the right incentives and facilities are given.

Even for traditional fishermen, there are alternatives within fisheries. Inland fisheries is a booming field. Trawler workers could switch to using vallams which can also go far into the sea in the Palk Bay and Palk Straits (even up to Delft Island in Sri Lanka).