SLA instructs Jaffna fishermen to stay away from intruding Indian trawlers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2011, 13:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army officers who instructed the local fishermen representatives in Vadamaraadchi North to come to their camps, have warned the Eezham Tamil fishermen to stay away from the intruding trawlers of Tamil Nadu fishermen after Indian trawlers began excessively poaching in the seas off Vadamaraadchi North, East and the islets since Wednesday last week after a 45-day annual break. During the last two days, the poaching by Indian trawlers was widely reported in the seas off Vadamaraadchi North, East, the islets and Mannaar. In the meantime, four Tamil Nadu fishermen on Friday swam to Neduntheevu, an islet off Jaffna, after their trawler sank in the seas following heavy winds on Thursday. 20 Tami Nadu fishermen were reported missing in the incident.

The representatives of the fishermen associations in Jaffna and Mannaar said they have been threatened by the intrusion of Sinhala fishermen from south with the connivance of the occupying Sri Lankan military on one side and the poaching by Indian trawlers on the other side.

Local fishermen complain that the entire resources of their sea are being environmentally threatened and their fishing nets were being completely destroyed by columns of trawlers that engage in bottom trawling.

The SLA officers who instructed the fishermen representatives in Vadamaraadchi North to stay away from the invading Indian trawlers have told them that there will be a solution within one month.