The government will relentlessly pursue its current policy of arresting Indian fishermen trespassing into Sri Lankan territorial waters and confiscating their boats and equipment, said Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera. He said nearly 5,000 Indian fishing boats enter Sri Lanka’s maritime zone almost thrice a week for poaching, thereby destroying the country’s fishing resources. The problem had been festering for the past several years and no past government had been able to find a lasting solution to it. But in his capacity as Fisheries Minister, he had issued strict orders to arrest all Indian fishermen entering Sri Lanka’s territorial waters to engage in illegal fishing.
The minister was addressing a meeting at the Kudawella Jayawickrama Vidyalaya to mark the launching of the ministry’s ‘Wewak Samaga Gamak’ programme in Kudawella North recently.
Although arrests were made before 2015, all seized boats and equipment had been subsequently released. Once the boats were released, Indian fishermen used the same boats to continue their illegal activity.
Minister Amaraweera said Indian fishing boats trespassing into Sri Lankan waters were mainly made of steel and they crashed against Sri Lankan fishing boats damaging them. They also engaged in bottom trawling completely eliminating fish shoals.
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