The fisherman issue

• The conflict:

o The rich fishing grounds on the Sri Lankan side have become an area of conflict.
o The Indian fishermen are being intimidated and harassed; their catch dumped
into the sea; and during the years of ethnic conflict, suspecting them to be Tamil
Tigers, the Sri Lankan navy used to shoot and kill them.
o Adding to the complexity is the use of bottom trawlers by Indian fishermen
which endangers Sri Lanka’s marine biodiversity and with which Sri Lankan
fishermen are unable to compete.
o The debate over Katchatheevu - an uninhabited and barren 285 acre islet about
14 nautical miles off Rameswaram.

Roots of the conflict:

o Both Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen have been fishing in the Palk Bay Straits for
several years but the maritime agreements signed between the two sides in 1974 and
1976 led to the demarcation of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
o The two treaties between the two countries led to the Palk Bay Strait connecting India
and Sri Lanka being declared a "two-nation pond" under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea rules. This led to the ban on fishing in international
waters of the two countries.
o The Kachchatheevu Island, small barren island in the Palk Bay region is a bone
of contention between Indian and Tamil fishermen.
o The islands were part of Zamindari of Raja of Ramnad and when Zamindari was
abolished after independence it became part of Madras Presidency.
o Sri Lanka claimed it on the ground that the Portuguese who had occupied the island
during 1505-1658 CE had exercised jurisdiction over the islet.
o While under Article 5 of the 1974 agreement protected the traditional fishing
rights of the Indian fishermen to fish in and around Kachchatheevu, these rights
were also given away by the 1976 Agreement.
o Since then, Indian fishermen have only been allowed “access” to the island for
resting, drying of nets and the annual St. Anthony’s festival, but not for
fishing.
o Tamil fishermen of India could not accept this fact.
o However, replying to the debate on the matter in Lok Sabha in July 1974, the then
External Affairs Minister asserted that the decision had been taken after “exhaustive
research of historical and other records” on the islet.
o In August 2013, the Union government told the Supreme Court that the question of
retrieval of Kachchatheevu from Sri Lanka did not arise as no territory belonging to
India was ceded to Sri Lanka. It contended that the islet was a matter of dispute between
British India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and there was no agreed boundary, a matter
of which was settled through 1974 and 1976 agreements.
 o The years of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka turned out to be a God-sent opportunity
for Indian fishermen. Since, fishing was banned by the Sri Lankan government
for security reasons, Indian fishermen used to go deep into Sri Lankan waters
to catch prawns. With the end of civil war, Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen want to
resume their vocation but they find presence of Indian fishermen and their
trawlers a major threat to it.
o Also, in the last few decades, fish and aquatic life in the Indian continental shelf
has depleted. As a result, more fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters and also resort
to the use of modern fishing trolleys which Lankan fishermen are unable to
match.

Related Initiatives Taken:

o The IMBL is imaginary, but it was geo-tagged and is visible to the fishermen,
due to Global Positioning System (GPS) sets.
o 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.
▪ It has been taken up under the ‘Blue Revolution’ scheme.

o A joint working group had been organized in 2006 to resolve this issue, this long-standing
issue, however, remains unresolved, and recently both sides have agreed to set-up standard
operating procedures to expedite the release and handing over of fisherman in each other’s
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custody on completion of legal and procedural formalities.

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Way forward:
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1. Successive government in Tamilnadu have suggested getting the islands back on permanent
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lease with India and the licensed Indian fisherman to be allowed up to 5 nautical miles
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with reciprocal rights to Srilankan fisherman to fish in Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
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However, GoI is not willing to reopen the boundary dispute.

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2. The fishing equipment that is prohibited in Sri Lanka must be banned by India in the Palk
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Bay. Fishing practises that do irreparable damage to marine ecology must be given up.
The damage to the Indian fishermen could be ameliorated if the announcement is followed by
two steps.
a. The trawlers can be used in the Odisha coast where waters are very deep
b. Trawlers could, with certain modifications, be used as smaller fishing vessels that
cater to the mothership.
3. India can transform the Palk Bay from a contested territory to a common heritage.
a. A Palk Bay Authority (PBA) consisting of marine ecologists, fisheries experts,
strategic specialists and government representatives may be formed.
b. The PBA could determine the ideal sustainable catch, type of fishing equipment that
can be used, and the number of fishing dates for Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen.
 c. The focus should be on enrichment of marine resources and improvement of the
livelihoods of fishermen.
4. The solution to this vexing problem can be found only if the livelihood of the fisherman became
the major focus and a solution is found between the fisherman of two sides backed by
their respective government.

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