The Fisheries Ministry has paid attention to releasing a few of the 42 Indian trawlers taken into custody by Sri Lanka in the Northern seas in 2015 after consulting Northern fishermen.
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera disclosed this at a meeting with a group of representatives from the Northern Fisheries Community at his ministry yesterday.
The minister said so far, the number of poaching Indian trawlers seized and forfeited stood at 128. Of them, 43 trawlers were seized in 2015.
It was decided to release a few of them but it would be done only after consulting the Northern fishermen and obtaining their approval.
A ministry release stated fisheries community representatives from the North who participated in the meeting requested the minister to refrain from releasing any of the seized Indian trawlers until they got back to the ministry after consulting the fishery community in the North about their views on the proposal.
The minister said nothing would be done without consulting the fishery community and obtaining their views.
The fisheries community representatives requested the minister to institute court action against the owners of the seized Indian trawlers or their agents.
They also requested that all Indian fishermen arrested and remaining in custody be released forthwith and hold back the release of Indian trawlers until Tamil Nadu fishing vessels totally halted poaching in Sri Lankan waters in the North.
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