Drowning fishermen take their woes to northern navy chief

Tired of complaining to local authorities many times about the ongoing illegal bottom trawling by Indian fishermen, the fisher leaders approached the person who can take action - not those who make mere statements.

A group of fishermen leaders, assisted by Assistant Director of Fisheries in Jaffna met the Commander northern naval area, Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera to ask him to stop the Indian fishermen coming into Sri Lankan waters, engaging in bottom trawling and damaging the fishing nets of local fishermen.

The fishermen also explained to the Rear Admiral the difficulty in securing their livelihood as the Indians have been poaching millions of rupees worth of fish resources from the Sri Lankan side for three days a week, for several years. The Rear Admiral assured the group that he would look into the issue and said he will take tough action, but the group lamented that they have heard this tough talk before to no avail as the Northern Provincial Council and the central Government in Colombo kept mum due to Indian pressures.

The group’s leaders also told the RearAdmiral that they are planning to stage a protest in front of the Indian Consulate in Jaffna against Indian poaching in Sri Lankan waters.