Tamil Nadu Govt. to seek PM Modi’s intervention for fishermen’s release

Reuters: Government of India’s southern Tamil Nadu state yesterday said it would seek the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek the release of local fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka for allegedly poaching in its territorial waters.

The government’s decision comes a day after the Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 16 Indian fishermen from near the Palk Strait and seized their boats on 16 January. “We will write a letter to the Prime Minister seeking immediate release of the detained fishermen,” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Eddapaddi K. Palaniswami told reporters in state capital Chennai.

The issue of arrests of Indian fishermen was flagged by New Delhi during a meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries with Sri Lankan officials in October. However, the arrests have continued, drawing strong reactions from fishermen bodies and their families.

India shares an expansive oceanic border with Sri Lanka without any perceptible demarcation and fishermen on both sides ignore rules while netting their catch. Sri Lanka has long fumed over poaching and illegal fishing by Indian fishermen that it says depletes the catch of its own fishermen. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea states that fishermen who cross territorial waters can be warned and fined but not arrested.