Indian coast guard escorts boats to Jaffna seas

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 16:37 GMT]
The Indian coast guard escorted ten fishing boats from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka’s maritime boundary in the Palk Strait Monday. The Indian fishing boats were received by the Sri Lanka Navy and were guided to the island of Delft (Nedunthivu) off Jaffna Monday evening.

Sri Lankan Police sources in Jaffna told TamilNet the 12 fishermen from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu had arrived in the boats to check and, if possible, repair their boats that are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy at its base in the island of Karainagar, west of Jaffna.

Four fishermen were sentenced to six months in prison by the Jaffna High Court two months ago for poaching in the waters off the coast of the northern peninsula. The court ordered the Police to seize their boats.

There are 87 fishermen from Tamil Nadu incarcerated in the Jaffna prison for poaching inside Jaffna’s maritime boundary, Police said.

Tamil fishermen in Sri Lanka’s north say that hundreds of boats from the coastal parts of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu regularly poach in the breeding grounds of fish and other sea produce inside the maritime zone of the province.

The unchecked poaching is depleting the rich fisheries off the northern coast, spokespersons for Fishermen’s societies in the region say.

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