Jaffna fisherman to look for alternative livelihoods

by Zacki Jabbar in Gurunagar-February 18, 2015, 12:00 pm 

The Jaffna fisherman have said they will have to look for other livelihoods if the intrusion of South Indian fishing boats into Sri Lankan waters does not cease.

President of the Gurnagar Fisheries Development Society, Julian Sahayarai told a meeting between a National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) delegation and his Society in Gurunagar last week that nearly 16,000 South Indian trawlers fished in Sri Lankan waters, but they who had only a total of around 200 boats were prevented by the Indian Navy from crossing the maritime boundary.

When it was pointed out that senior politicians of the previous government had privately admitted toThe Island of Jaffna fishermen, too, entered the Indian waters, he replied: "That is not true. How can we do that with 200 odd boats? We do not go beyond the 25 km limit that has been set."

" Our Navy is turning a blind eye to the Indian trawlers," Sahayarai charged. "What are we to do? If this goes on the fisherman will have to look for alternative livelihoods."

Asked why they, too, did not use trawlers he said that the Fisheries Department had banned bottom-trawling for environmental reasons.

President Maithripala Sirisena who met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday during his three-day official visit raised the issue of Tamil Nadu fisherman engaging in bottom-trawling in Lankan waters. He called for urgent action to resolve the issue.

Former Fisheries Minister and current Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne also participated in the meeting between the two leaders. He gave a detailed description of the adverse impact of bottom-trawling on the environment.

The NCE delegation to Jaffna comprising eight southern exporters was led by its new President Sarada de Silva.