Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy on Saturday after their mechanised trawler was accused of poaching in the island nation's waters, the latest in the long-running cycle of mid-sea arrests in the Palk Strait.
According to The Hindu, the fishermen, from Thangachimadam near Rameswaram, had ventured out after fisheries department officials issued tokens to 339 mechanised trawlers. Sri Lankan Navy personnel on surveillance claimed the trawler was indulging in poaching, interrogated the crew at mid-sea, and then detained the vessel along with the nine men and their catch, taking them to a naval port in Sri Lanka.
Unrest in the coastal town
News of the detention sent shockwaves through the coastal settlement. Fishermen's leader Jesu Raja said the Union government should immediately take up the matter with Sri Lanka and ensure the men's release, The Hindu reported.
The ANI news agency reported that the trawler was apprehended near Neduntheevu after the Sri Lankan Navy claimed it had crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line, triggering unrest among fishermen in Rameswaram. Fewer than 400 boats had left the Rameswaram fishing port that Saturday, officials said.
Karalmarks, president of the Fisherman Association, strongly condemned the arrests, telling ANI that the fishermen had set out after securing the required pass permits from the Rameswaram token office. He called for talks between fishermen from both countries to find a lasting arrangement so they could fish without repeated arrests, and urged the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to intervene immediately.
Sources: Nine fishermen from Rameswaram held by SL Navy on poaching charge · Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 9 fishermen from Rameswaram, seizes fishing boat
According to The Hindu, the fishermen, from Thangachimadam near Rameswaram, had ventured out after fisheries department officials issued tokens to 339 mechanised trawlers. Sri Lankan Navy personnel on surveillance claimed the trawler was indulging in poaching, interrogated the crew at mid-sea, and then detained the vessel along with the nine men and their catch, taking them to a naval port in Sri Lanka.
Unrest in the coastal town
News of the detention sent shockwaves through the coastal settlement. Fishermen's leader Jesu Raja said the Union government should immediately take up the matter with Sri Lanka and ensure the men's release, The Hindu reported.
The ANI news agency reported that the trawler was apprehended near Neduntheevu after the Sri Lankan Navy claimed it had crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line, triggering unrest among fishermen in Rameswaram. Fewer than 400 boats had left the Rameswaram fishing port that Saturday, officials said.
Karalmarks, president of the Fisherman Association, strongly condemned the arrests, telling ANI that the fishermen had set out after securing the required pass permits from the Rameswaram token office. He called for talks between fishermen from both countries to find a lasting arrangement so they could fish without repeated arrests, and urged the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to intervene immediately.
Sources: Nine fishermen from Rameswaram held by SL Navy on poaching charge · Sri Lankan Navy apprehends 9 fishermen from Rameswaram, seizes fishing boat
