India Sri lanka - Fishermen Issue

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Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen have fished in the Parker Bay area for centuries.

Parker's Bay is a semi-shallow body of water between the east coast of India and Sri Lanka.

The problem arose after India and Sri Lanka signed a maritime agreement in 1974.

In fact, the first border agreement in 1974 did not affect the fisheries between the two sides of the border.

In 1976, India and Sri Lanka exchanged letters and agreed to avoid fishing in each other's waters.

In 1974 and 1976, the two countries signed agreements on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

In short, both parties plan to ban international fishing and shipping.

However, the agreement does not prevent fishermen from fishing in these waters because fishermen have no borders.

Despite the border agreement, fishermen from both countries continued to fish in the Parker Inlet area until the outbreak of the Islamic War in 1983. war in 2009.

Later, India and Sri Lanka decided to establish the Joint India-Sri Lanka Fisheries Working Group (JWG) in 2016 as a mechanism to help find solutions for fishermen.

Katchatheevu Island Problem

The small Katchatheevu island now used by fishermen to separate their catch and dry their nets is outside of IMBL.

Fishermen often risk their lives while crossing IMBL instead of turning with bare hands, but the Sri Lanka Navy has been alerted and has seized or destroyed illegal fishermen's nets and boats. Crossing the line.

Reasons To Continue

The main problem for Indian fishermen is that they mostly depend for their livelihood on fishing in Sri Lankan waters, which was banned by the 1976 Maritime Limits Agreement.

Also, many Indian fishermen rely on trawling, which is prohibited in Sri Lanka.

Initiatives Taken

Deep Sea Fishing Scheme

Promoted as an alternative to bottom trawling by Tamil Nadu’s fishermen off the Palk Bay, the scheme envisages the provision of 2,000 deep sea fishing boats in place of trawlers by 2019-20, which will be the third and final year of implementation of the scheme.

It aims to put an end to disputes arising between the two countries.