Prohibiting bottom fishing and supporting fishermen is a good first step towards a solution
Rajkiran, 30, from Tamil Nadu’s coastal Pudukkottai district is the fifth Indian fisherman to lose his life in the Palk Straits this year. . The boat on which Rajkiran was on board with two others reportedly sank late on October 18 after colliding with a patrol vessel of the Sri Lankan Navy. Two other fishermen were remanded in Sri Lanka till November 1, while Rajkiran was reported to be “missing” until his body was recovered by the Navy a few days after the incident. Tamil Nadu fishermen’s associations have accused the Sri Lankan Navy of brutally attacking Rajkiran, while Sri Lanka has denied the allegations.
In both cases this year, what we do know is that the fishermen died trying to earn a living. In both cases, they allegedly crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line, an invisible demarcation between India and Sri Lanka. They were intercepted in Sri Lankan waters by the Sri Lankan Navy for “illegal fishing”, after which some of them returned dead.
New Delhi expressed a “strong protest” in Colombo after four fishermen were reportedly killed by the Sri Lankan Navy in January. But let alone a credible test, there is no sign of a complete investigation. These tragic events are neither typical nor inevitable for this year.
unresolved conflict
The fishermen’s deaths serve as a stark reminder of the unresolved fishery conflict, which is spreading across the barely 30-mile-wide (at its narrowest point) Palk Strait. This problem has been present for more than a decade now, since Sri Lanka’s 30-year civil war ended in 2009. It was then that the northern Tamil fishermen of the island, who had been displaced and had restricted access to the sea, began to return to their former territories. homes, with the hope of reviving their livelihoods and reviving their lives. However, his return marked the beginning of a new tension with Tamil fishermen on the other side of the sea. This has posed a serious threat to their livelihoods, fishing gear and the marine resources they rely on.
In Tamil Nadu, daily wage fishermen are only aware of the risks that come with working on mechanized fishing vessels used for ‘bottom trawling’. Their pay depends on the catch they bring back. Using the bottom trawling fishing method, they drag large fishing nets along the seashore, taking out large quantities of prawns, small fish and almost everything at once. This practice, considered destructive around the world, has ensured a small income for its employers – ship owners – and fishermen who take the highest risks.
The frequent bed-trapping along the Tamil Nadu coast over the past few years has meant that fishermen are drawn to the relatively resource-rich Sri Lankan waters. This pushes them into a cycle of arrest, remand, release, or in some unfortunate cases, violence or death at sea.
The Sri Lankan state’s response to the problem has been largely a military and legal one, with its navy patrolling the seas and arresting “trespassers”, banning fishing and cracking down on foreign vessels engaged in illegal fishing in its territorial waters. tasked with imposing fines. There has been little support for the war-torn, artisanal fishermen in the northern province, through infrastructure or equipment. Despite major losses, fishermen did not get any assistance even during the pandemic-induced lockdown months.
Heavy fines on foreign ships proved to be a deterrent, at least temporarily. But over the past few months, Indian trawlers have been frequented by northern fishermen, especially as the Sri Lankan Navy eased its patrols over fears of importing COVID-19 infections.
immediate solution
India and Sri Lanka have held several rounds of bilateral talks between government officials as well as fishermen leaders over the past decade. The results have mostly come from a standoff, with Tamil Nadu refusing to give up on downward trolling, to template responses from governments, with India seeking a “humanitarian response” from Sri Lanka. The closest the two countries came to reaching a solution came in November 2016 after a meeting with other key negotiators in New Delhi led by the two countries’ foreign and fisheries ministers. A Joint Working Group was formed, first and foremost, to expedite the “transition towards eliminating the practice of trolling as soon as possible”.
The Indian government’s effort to divert fishermen to deep sea fishing has not worked as envisioned, even as profit-hungry boat owners in Tamil Nadu stubbornly defend their trawler trade. Huh. Meanwhile, fishermen from Tamil Nadu continue to allege that the Sri Lankan Navy is inflicting violence on them; Sri Lanka has denied this. Five years later, we are at a fairly low point in the fisheries conflict with rising human costs.
Meanwhile, this could be the biggest test of solidarity that Tamil Nadu continues to express with Sri Lankan Tamils, who are at the brunt of the civil war and still await justice and a political solution.
By now, it has become clear that bottom trawling has not only maximized profits made by shipowners in Tamil Nadu, but also posed risks to the poor, daily wage fishermen of the coastal districts. The wealthy owners and those employed by them for meager wages should not be lumped together as mere “fishermen of Tamil Nadu”, without knowing that their interests and risks differ greatly.
It is equally well known that the fishermen of northern Sri Lanka have suffered heavy losses due to the continuous entrapment by Indian ships. Their catch has declined drastically and they are counted as an endangered species of fish. They are disappointed as their counterparts or “brothers” in Tamil Nadu have not heeded their frequent calls to end up trolling them over and over again.
For politicians and activists in Tamil Nadu, the death of fishermen is the most humiliating, emotional dimension of this complex problem – especially since no previous case has been investigated or the perpetrator held accountable. Yet, merely viewing the conflict through the prism of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the Sri Lankan Navy may not solve the problem, though it may address its most blatant symptom.
At the heart of the conflict is a story of competing livelihoods – in numbers, equipment, or political support – between two Tamil-speaking fishing communities in a narrow stretch of sea, amid an emerging environmental threat, and a clear asymmetry of power. The growing trust deficit in the middle does not bode well for the possibility of a resolution.
India and Sri Lanka should urgently focus their energies to deal with this crisis. As a first step, Tamil Nadu should consider banning downstream trawling in the Palk Strait. With such a move, both New Delhi and Colombo should provide adequate support to their respective fishing communities to deal with the suspension of trawling on the Tamil Nadu side and the devastating impact of the pandemic on both sides. Time should be used to develop a sustainable solution. Strong bilateral ties are not only about shared religious or cultural heritage, but also about responsibly sharing resources, so as to protect the lives and livelihoods of our people.
meera.srinivasan@thehindu.co.in
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