SLN bans fishing east, west of KKS harbor

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2006, 00:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security Forces have banned fishing on seas east and west of Kankesanthurai Harbor High Security Zone (HSZ), stripping nearly six hundred fisher families from their livelihood, said K Thavaratnam, president of Jaffna District Consortium of Fisheries Unions. According to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) officials the ban will be lifted only when violents incidents subside and Jaffna district returns to normalcy, Mr Thavaratnam further said.

The new fishing ban affects shores from Thondamannar to Valvettiturai, to the east of the KKS harbor, and from Senthankulam to Mathakal, to the west of the KKS harbor, Mr Thavaratnam told TamilNet.

The Consortium of Fisheries Unions has registered complaints with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and with Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Mr Ganesh.

The SLN commanders in Jaffna had told the Jaffna GA that the new ban was instituted due to security considerations of the harbor and will be in effect until normalcy returns, the GA said.

Meanwhile, many affected fishing families are planning to move to Liberation Tigers controlled Vadamaradchy east or to Mullaitivu where they will be able to fish and earn a living, sources said.