Sri Lanka has detained 22 Indian fishermen and seized two fishing vessels for allegedly poaching into Sri Lankan waters off the Jaffna coast, the navy confirmed on Thursday. In February alone, Sri Lankan authorities have detained over 51 Indian fishermen and seized 9 trawlers.  

In a statement on Thursday, the navy said they apprehended the two Indian trawlers with 22 Indian fishermen while engaging in illegal fishing by ‘bottom trawling’, a banned practice in Sri Lanka in the Sri Lankan waters breaching the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). 

The operation was conducted in Sri Lankan waters north of Kankesanthurai and northwest of Kovilan Lighthouse, Jaffna. "Arrangements are being made to hand over the Indian poaching vessels and fishermen held in the operation to relevant authorities," the statement added. 

The fishing issue remains one of the most complicated unresolved issues between India and Colombo, as the latter often accuses Indian fishermen from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu of being regularly involved in illegally poaching in its territorial water. 

Any coercive action from Colombo stirs up passions in Tamil Nadu, where the issue dominates political discourse. 

Earlier this week, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to the central government seeking a permanent solution to what has now become a running dispute affecting the safety and livelihoods and fishermen from the southern Indian state. 

So far, about ten fishing trawlers have been seized, and 51 fishermen arrested in this month alone. 

(SAM)