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Fishermen in North to boycott next round of talks
The fishermen in the North decided this week not to participate in the next round of fishermen level talks with their Indian counterparts on the Palk Strait fishing dispute as the Indian side continues to persist with its demand for a licence to fish in Lankan waters.
Jaffna Fishermen’s Association leader Naganathy Ponnambalam told the Sunday Times after a collective meeting of all the fishermen’s associations in the region, that they have decided to show their protest by not attending the next round of talks.
“There is nothing we can talk about except putting a full stop to the Indian fishermen’s poaching in our sea. By placing the responsibility of settling this problem on the shoulders of the two fishing communities, both governments are trying to savoid finding a reasonable solution,” he said.
Mr. Ponnambalam pointed out that the continuing demand by the Indian fishermen to allow them to fish in Lankan waters for three days in a week – a suggestion which has been rejected by the Lankan side – has meant there has been little progress in the talks.
In the meantime, the Indian fishermen are continuing with their illegal fishing.
The Vadamarachchi Fisheries Union president Vaithipillai Arulthas told the Sunday Times that fishing nets and other equipment valued at over five million rupees were damaged by the Indian trawling nets.
“Nowadays they are coming even closer to our coastal area while the Navy is watching. We have complained to the Navy and Police about this, but they have taken little notice of our pleas,” he said.
The Northern fishermen’s plight has been highlighted during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India where at a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, they spoke of the “need for the fishermen on both sides, who are also related to have discussions and hopefully conclude them within a time bound framework.”
Meanwhile, the Indian Premier reiterating that the Indian Government is taking steps to encourage Indian fishermen to take up deep sea fishing, stressed that fishermen’s associations on both sides should continue in the meantime their efforts to find a solution.“I conveyed to him that this should be seen as a humanitarian issue that affects livelihoods,” Premier Modi said.
A senior official at the Fisheries Ministry said so far there have been no steps taken by either side to initiate talks. The Foreign Ministry is coordinating with the Fisheries Ministry on the issue and it has been decided that the fourth round of talks will be held in Colombo as the last round was held in Tamil Nadu.