Why TN fishermen continue to fish in forbidden waters?

After the recent arrest of 68 Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, several fishermen unions have threatened to go on hunger strikes and launch agitations in the two coastal districts of Tamil Nadu – Ramanathapuram and Pudukkottai. The leaders of the fishermen unions maintained that there will be a permanent solution to this long-standing problem only if the traditional fishing rights of the fishermen are reclaimed.

Fishing is the second major industry in Tamil Nadu after agriculture. The fishing sector contributes 1 per cent of the gross domestic production and TN ranks 4th among other states in terms of the total fish production in the country.

It is largely fishermen from Ramanathapuram who are intercepted and detained by the Sri Lankan navy. It is a well-known fact that one of the major reasons is because they tend to fish in the troubled waters off the small islet of Katchatheevu, which is clearly out of bounds for them. Earlier, Indian fishermen used to freely fish in the Bay of Bengal, the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar until treaties were signed between Sri Lanka and India in 1974 and 1976, to demarcate the maritime boundary — the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

Though the IMBL is an imaginary line in the waters between Sri Lanka and India, the fishermen from the Indian side are not allowed to cross that line to the other side. However, the treaties seemed to have failed to factor in the fact that they have robbed these fishermen of their traditional fishing grounds. The fishermen are now forced to restrict themselves to a meagre area in their forays into the sea even as they eye the giant prawns they can net off the Katchatheevu area on the Sri Lankan side.

According to the fishemen unions, lack of deep sea fishing boats and inadequate surveillance by the Indian authorities due to practical difficulties have also not eased the situation at all.

Also read: Sri Lankan navy arrests 43 fishermen from Tamil Nadu

‘Retrieve Katchatheevu‘

Explaining why the fishermen habitually transgress the IMBL, P Sesuraj, president, Tamil Nadu Coastal Fishermen’s Association said 3,500 mechanised boats in Rameswaram, Mandapam and Pudukkottai regions and fishermen from Nagapattinam and Karaikkal set out on fishing trips.

“In 1974, Katchatheevu island was given to Sri Lanka. If you draw a straight line between Rameswaram and Katchatheevu, it would cover only 12 nautical miles. For seven nautical miles the sea is full of rocks. So, all the boats are forced to fish within the remaining nautical miles. And, within an hour or so, the fish in that area gets depleted. At that time, the fishermen tend to cross the maritime border lines,” said P Sesuraj.

The fish breeds in large numbers in the Katchatheevu area which is forbidden to us, pointed out Sesuraj. “A boat needs 250 litres to 600 litres of fuel and a minimum of seven helpers. Besides, the boat owner has to buy ration and ice etc., all of which costs the fishermen about ₹25,000 to ₹80,000. When such an investment has been made, he expects some kind of profit at least,” he said.

Sesuraj said that it was a matter of survival. “In order to earn some money for their survival, they tend to cross the borderlines. They have a GPS device which will alert them if they inadvertently cross the borders. But still, they cross the borders because they are used to traditionally fishing in these regions even before maritime borderline laws came into force. It is also important to note that the border lines were created only for the military forces and not for fishermen,” said Sesuraj, adding that until Katchatheevu is retrieved there will be no end to this situation.

Lack of deep sea fishing boats

In order to prevent Tamil Nadu fishermen from crossing the IMBL, the Centre had announced a ₹1,600 crore ‘Palk Bay Scheme’, under which around 2,000 trawlers were to be replaced with deep sea fishing vessels.

“The scheme was started in 2017. First, the government promised to replace 500 trawlers in the first phase and to replace the remaining trawlers subsequently. But even after four years, not even 50 boats have been replaced with deep sea fishing vessels,” alleged K Bharathi, president of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association.

According to the scheme, 50 per cent of the cost of the deep sea fishing vessel, which is ₹ 80 lakh, should be borne by the Union government, 20 per cent by the state government, 10 per cent by the beneficiary and the remaining 20 per cent by the financial institutions.

Bharathi said it is their right to fish in the places where they have been traditionally fishing. “We have done nothing wrong. It is our right. The Union and state government should ensure that we get back our traditional fishing rights,” he said.

“When governments are unable to take any concrete steps, GPS border alert systems are not going to work,” he added.

Also read: Nine Indian fishermen escape unhurt after Sri Lankan navy ‘opens fire’

Practical difficulties in surveillance

Meanwhile, the National Fisherfolk Forum chairperson Ilango pointed out that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) adopted by India in 1982, when fishermen of one nation inadvertently cross the maritime border, and it is found that they have crossed the borders only for fishing, they must be pardoned.

When asked about the role of the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy in alerting the fishermen if they crossed the borders, Ilango said that they only carry out the surveillance within the Indian borders.

“They mostly carry the surveillance within Indian waters, which is of considerable distance from the IMBL. While the Sri Lankan navy has a 24 hour surveillance, our forces carry out monitoring activities at certain times of the day and it is literally impossible to have a vigil on each and every boat,” he said.

Sesuraj also added that earlier the Sri Lankan navy used to release the boats that were confiscated when the fishermen were set free. But, now they release only the fishermen and the boats are kept with the navy.

Talking to The Federal, an official from the Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group said that monitoring the fishermen becomes difficult since the Indian forces have a limited number of surveillance vessels.

“The Coast Guards and Navy continue to alert and warn the fishermen. The fishermen who own mechanised boats from Rameswaram region are allowed to fish in the Palk Strait region only on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. So, when we go on our rounds we alert the fishermen about crossing the borders,” he said.

“But they think that we are intervening in their activity,” he added, which only proves that the TN fishermen are unwilling to let go of their traditional fishing rights.