SLA bans fishing in Thondamanaaru lagoon

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 19:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sunday banned fishing in the Thondamanaru lagoon in the Jaffna district, fisheries sources said. Hundreds of fisher families residing in Kerudavil, Akkarai and Thondamanaru areas in Vadamaradchchi division have been badly affected by the ban, according to a complaint lodged at the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna.

Thondamanaru lagoon is located on the eastern border of the Palaly high security zone. Fishermen use to fish in lagoon without using boats, sources said.

Fisheries sources said that now prawn season has started and large number of fishermen are engaged in prawn fishing in the lagoon.

The SLA soldiers deployed in the sea shore Sunday stopped all fishermen from entering the lagoon saying that they have received instruction from the superiors not to allow fishing in the lagoon from Sunday.

Thondamanaru fishing society officials brought this matter to the notice of the Jaffna SLMM authorities and the plight of fisher families who lost their livelihood following the ban, sources said.