Financial Times

Indian trawlers threaten to exhaust local fisheries resources

From Suren Gnanaraj in Jaffna

Fisheries resources in the north could get wiped out in the next three years unless the government imposes strict measures to prevent South Indian fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters, the fishing community here has warned.

South Indian trawlers have been spotted as close as 500 metres from the Jaffna coast, amounting to a blatant violation of Sri Lanka's international territorial waters. However, the Sri Lanka Navy has turned a blind eye to these violations, possibly on receiving instructions from higher authorities.

R. Rajaram, General Manager of the Northern Province Fishermen's Co-operative Societies Union Ltd (NPCSUL), the apex of body of fisheries in the north, said that the government at the moment could not take stern action as a result of the strong trade ties between the two countries, and the need for the Indian government's support in the Sri Lankan peace process.

"Therefore, we cannot blame the Sri Lanka Navy, but the truth is that they are not doing their job," he said.

The worst affected areas are Vadamarachchy East, Vadamarachchy North (Point Pedro, Velvettiturai), Delft, and Mannar.

South Indian trawlers from the regions of Nagapatinam to Rameswaran enter Sri Lankan waters at around 6 pm in search of prawns, and leave the waters by 2 am. In the last eight months, nearly 50 Indian trawlers have been spotted in Mannar, 15 in Point Pedro and 25 near the Delft island.

Furthermore, these 34-36 foot trawlers with 90-120 horse power engines, have a tendency to topple local boats, which are only 17 1/2 feet long with eight HP engines.

These trawlers also have a tendency to cut through fishing nets laid by local fishermen, causing damage amounting to Rs. 75,000-100,000. Rajaram said that the government was aware of these violations, but had yet to respond to several memorandums, which had been submitted by the union over the years.

President of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce R. Jeyasegaran said that with close to 30 percent of the country's total fish consumption being supplied by the north in the previous decades, there was an urgent need to preserve the existing resources, as well as provide for the socio-economic development of the fishing community.

"This is a huge menace. I can't understand why the Navy is not taking any action, after all you can actually see these Indian trawlers from the shore," he said.

Rajaram said that the fishing population had been reduced to 10,000 from a total of 25,000 as a result of the war, which destroyed houses and displaced several fishing families.

He said that at present northern fishermen were living in mediocre shelters, obtaining fishing gear on loans at high interest rates, and using fairly old boats from distant places such as Negombo in order to earn a decent income.

"I feel that the agricultural sector has received more support from the government than the fisheries sector, even though this sector has been affected more due to the fishing restrictions as a result of the war," Rajaram said.
He said that the government should provide subsidies for the fishermen to purchase ice, fishing nets and fibre glass boats, e most of them were still in poverty as a result of the war.

At present, the northern region has no cold storage facilities to preserve their daily catch. As a result, they are unable to transport their catch to Colombo, and are compelled to sell their fish at low prices within the northern market. "Blast freezers are an urgent need, together with cooler trucks, so that we can preserve fish for at least a month," he said. The total cost of blast freezers has been estimated at around Rs. 15 milllion. At the moment one kilo of prawns in Jaffna is priced between Rs. 170-200, whereas in Colombo it costs around Rs. 500. "If we can send these prawns down to Colombo and the rest of the south, our fisherman can earn more as well as bring down prices of fish drastically," he said.

Rajaram said that in 2000, a total of three million rupees was allocated by the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, to set up ice factories in the north, to meet the existing demand. However, the project never got off the ground, as a result of the proposed building sites coming under the High Security Zones. Rajaram said that Minister Jayalath Jayawardena had assured the NPCSUL that the matter would be taken up with the Prime Minister, but to date nothing had materialised. "We don't want the money for these projects to be pumped through state coffers. Instead, we want the government to facilitate in attracting donor countries and agencies to help fund these facilities," he said.

The NPCSUL is to hand over another memorandum to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe next week and the Indian High Commissioner in order to seek immediate redress.


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