Mannar fishermen seize poaching Indian trawlers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 September 2002, 06:39 GMT]
Fishermen in Mannar late Wednesday night seized 25 Indian trawlers and 111 Indian fishermen who were poaching in the seas off Talaimannar and Pesalai. The Mannar fishermen are refusing to release the Indians and their boats, sources said.

The local fishermen charge that the Indians cut their nets, ravage their traditional fishing grounds and often harass them at sea.

The Mannar Government Agent, Mr. V. Visvalingam and local officials have rushed to Pesalai to defuse the situation and see the Indian fishermen who are being held at the Fisheries Co-operative Society building there.

The Mannar fishermen went about the coastal waters off Pesalai and Mannar in strength from 7 p.m. till midnight to seize poaching Indian trawlers, sources said.