Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen reach an agreement on trans-border fishing

Fishermen from India's Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka have reached an amicable solution to the problems associated with the trans-border fishing in Palk Bay area following their three-day meeting held from August 20-22 in Chennai
.According to Indian media reports the V. Vivekanandan, convener, Alliance for Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF) has said that both groups have come to an agreement which is applicable from November 1 and is subject to approval by the two governments.
A group representing the Sri Lankan Fishermen Association of Northern Province along with NGOs and two officials from the Fisheries Department of Sri Lanka participated in the three-day meeting with the representatives of the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies.
An Indian fishermen team will visit Sri Lanka in the next few months to hold another round of discussion to sort out trans-border fishing problems and discuss other issues, Vivekanandan has said in a statement.
Reportedly, several restrictions have been included in the agreement on the trawling by Indian fishermen.
Under the agreement Indian fishermen can fish only 70 days in a year at two days a week instead of the current three days. Fishermen can go fishing only for nine-and-a-half months in a year.
An additional one-month break will be taken in September in addition to the current six-weeks-break during April to May. Mechanized boats are prohibited from fishing on India's east coast during that time.
Further, trawlers will not be allowed to fish within a distance of three nautical miles from the Sri Lankan coast inside the Palk Bay but in Palk Straits and the Gulf of Mannar a maximum distance of 5 nautical miles from the India-Sri Lanka maritime border will be allowed for the trawlers to fish within Sri Lankan waters.
Fishing in Sri Lankan waters shall be restricted to a total of 12 hours per trip, the statement specified.
K. Suriyakumaran, president of the Sri Lankan Fishermen Association from Northern Province say that the fishing gear used by the Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Bay area deplete the resources and affect the livelihood of fishermen in Sri Lanka's Northern Province.
S.W. Pathirana, Director General of Fisheries, Sri Lanka, has reportedly assured the members that his government will give serious consideration to the proposals put up by the fishermen of both countries.