Fishing for workable solutions in the Palk Bay

• After a gap of 15 months, the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries recently held its much-awaited deliberations (in virtual format).
• But between the two meetings of the JWG, a number of unfortunate events have occurred in the Palk Bay region that encompasses India’s Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka’s Northern Province.

An apple of discord

• Just as sections of fishermen from the Palk Bay bordering districts of Tamil Nadu continue to transgress the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), cases of many of them getting arrested and their boats being impounded by the Sri Lankan authorities continue.
• What has precipitated matters is that in early February, the impounded boats, around 140 in number, were auctioned despite a bilateral understanding on the matter.

Use of mechanised bottom trawlers

• It has become a bone of contention between the fishermen of the two countries; the dispute is not just between the two states.
• This method of fishing is now seen as being extremely adverse to the marine ecology, and has been acknowledged so by India.
• Another issue of the fishermen of Tamil Nadu — the lack of fishing areas consequent to the demarcation of the IMBL in June 1974.
• If they confine themselves to Indian waters, they find the area available for fishing full of rocks and coral reefs besides being shallow.
• The distance between Dhanushkodi (Tamil Nadu) and the IMBL is 9 nautical miles (NM) while the maximum distance — Devipattinam and the IMBL — is 34 NM.
• Under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983, mechanised fishing boats can fish only beyond 3 NM from the coast.
• Because of this factor as well as the plight of the fishermen of the Northern Province that the two governments have been repeatedly saying that the whole problem has to be looked at from humanitarian and livelihood angles.

Fisher-level talks

• The present situation can be utilised to bring the fishermen of the two countries to the negotiating table.
• This is because the Indian government’s two-month ban on fishing on the east coast of the country began on April 15.
• It is up to Sri Lanka now to ensure that the talks take place as the Indian side is keen on resuming fisherfolk-level deliberations.
• While Indian fishermen can present a road map for their transition to deep sea fishing or alternative methods of fishing, the Sri Lankan side has to take a pragmatic view that the transition cannot happen abruptly.
• To elicit a favourable response from the fishermen of the Northern Province, the Tamil Nadu fishermen have to commit themselves to a short and swift transition for which the governments in India ( Central and State) have to come forward to perform the role of guarantors.

Deep sea fishing

• The revised scheme has to absorb satisfactorily not only the unit cost of long liners but also the running cost.
• Also, there is a compelling need for the Central and State governments to implement in Tamil Nadu the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana in a proactive manner.
• The scheme (flagged off two years ago) covers alternative livelihood measures including seaweed cultivation, open sea cage cultivation, and sea/ocean ranching.

Way forward

• India had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sri Lanka for the development of fisheries harbours.
• This can be modified to include a scheme for deep sea fishing to the fishermen of the North.
• It is a welcome development that the JWG has agreed to have joint research on fisheries, which should be commissioned at the earliest.
• Such a study should cover the extent of the adverse impact of bottom trawling in the Palk Bay region.
• The two countries should explore the possibility of establishing a permanent multi-stakeholder institutional mechanism to regulate fishing activity in the region.
• Sri Lanka should also take a lenient view of the situation and refrain from adopting a rigid and narrow legal view of matters concerning the release of 16 fishermen or impounded fishing boats (around 90 in number).

Exam track

Prelims Takeaway

• Deep sea fishing
• Trawling
• International Maritime Boundary Line

Mains Track

Q. India has been the strongest foundation on which Sri Lanka can rely on during the times of crisis. But the fishermen issue has never been resolved between the 2 neighbours. Discuss the steps that can be taken by both countries for the same.