Sri Lanka is all set to allow 250 Tamil Nadu trawlers to fish on Lankan waters on specific days as an ad hoc measure to reduce the problem of poaching by Tamil Nadu trawlers in the Lankan waters, reported The New Indian Express.
Official sources told TNIE that this will be advantageous for Sri Lanka as about 3000 trawlers from Tamil Nadu hit the Sri Lankan waters every other day and deplete the marine resources, which also leads to depriving the North Lankan fishermen of their livelihood.
Sri Lanka has allowed bottom trawling to a certain extent by Tamil Nadu trawlers. Moreover, trawling is not banned in Sri Lanka.
However, a bill seeking a ban on bottom trawling was moved by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M A Sumanthiran in the Lankan Parliament on February. The Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has said that the bill would be sent to Lanka’s nine provinces councils for their response. Sumanthiran had said then that fisheries are a central subject and Colombo should decide on this issue. Sumanthiran feels that they cannot stop Tamil Nadu trawlers till it is not banned in their own country, according to The New Indian Express.
The Tamil Nadu government has requested the Lankan government to release 67 Tamil fishermen and 98 boats, but the Sri Lankan government has refused to release the fishermen and the boats. He also stated that the talks will only be carried out with New Delhi and not with Tamil Nadu government.