• NAFSO Convenor Herman Kumara highlights the impact of Indian fishers poaching in SL waters on the local fishing community and the marine environment 

The issue of Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters – often employing fishing methods that damage the environment – is a topic that is often looked at through political, diplomatic, and economic lenses. However, the environmental and livelihood-related aspects of this issue are considerable.

On the one hand, environmental destruction caused by the fishing methods are long term. On the other hand, the lives of the fisheries community in the affected areas, especially in the North, remain in an unstable situation.

The impacts of the increase in Indian poachers that engage in fishing activities in Sri Lankan waters on the marine environment in the affected areas as well as on the local fishermen’s personal and professional lives was explained by National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) Convenor Herman Kumara in an interview with The Daily Morning. Observing that many local fishermen’s lives have come to a halt due to the declining income and freedom to engage in their vocation in their traditional fishing areas, he stressed that what fishermen can do in this regard is extremely limited. 

Following are excerpts from the interview:

The current discussion on the challenges posed by Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters is largely centred around diplomatic and economic aspects of the matter. What is fishermen’s experience like when it comes to environmental, personal, and professional aspects of this issue?

Indian fishermen commonly use the fishing method called bottom trawling to catch shrimps. However, the nature of this fishing method results in the catching of a number of other types of fish, which get discarded because many Indian fishermen are not interested in catching those fish. These are types of fish that Sri Lankan fishermen catch and they lose that opportunity. This process destroys, among others, juvenile fish and pregnant fish, which in turn affects the sustainability of the profession. This is a major threat for the next generation.

Secondly, owing to the said fishing method, certain other aspects of the marine environment, especially coral reefs known as the “rainforests of the ocean”, also get destroyed. This leads to a decline in coral reef production. Consequently, poachers’ fishing methods result in a decreased fish harvest not only now, but also in the long run. 

In addition, due to the powerful nature of the engines of the boats used by Indian fishermen, local fishermen find it difficult to engage in fishing on days that Indian fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters. This is due to the threat of these engines damaging fishing nets used by local fishermen, which is another concerning situation. On those days, there is little to no fish harvest. Indian fishermen come as close as 500 metres to Sri Lanka’s shores. 

All these factors have led to the decline in local fishermen’s income, which has created a situation where they are discouraged. This situation can be seen in areas such as Mannar, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, and even Trincomalee. In addition to the environmental destruction, the country loses billions of rupees.

What is the nature of the long-term impacts of these environmental concerns?

Indian fishermen are interested only in catching shrimps for the time being. However, it takes thousands of years for coral reefs to grow properly, and destroyed coral reefs will take that long to recover. We cannot expect that recovery to completely take place naturally, because there are other factors that have an impact on this process, an example being various forms of pollution including chemical pollution and heatwaves such as El Nino.

Overall, the destruction of coral reefs is one of the key factors that pose a threat to the sustainability aspect of this discussion. There is a clear decrease in the fish harvest. What is more, between the sea areas of Mannar and Jaffna, there are two fishing areas called the “west bank” and the “south bank” where the fisheries resources are generated. These areas are rich in environmental factors necessary for the fish harvest. These areas are targeted by the Indian fishermen. Through the destruction of such useful environmental factors, Indian fishermen destroy the fisheries sector. This is a serious threat to the sector.

In your opinion, how has this issue affected the quality and quantity of the fish harvest in the northern part of the island?

I believe that the quality of the fish harvest does not get affected by such fishing methods. However, since Indian fishermen mainly target shrimps, other types of fish get affected, including due to the catching of small fish. That is the main impact on the sector. This situation causes a decline in the sector, because fisheries resources – which should ideally be consumed gradually and in the long term – become limited.

How has the fisheries community responded to these challenges?

The fisheries community in the affected areas have taken measures. We have been holding talks with the Indian fishermen since 2004 in this regard. This was called a “people-to-people dialogue” and this is one of the major responses. In 2004, a team of Indians related to this situation came to Sri Lanka to discuss this issue. 

In 2010, a Sri Lankan team consisting of 18 persons representing the fisheries sector and several persons representing the media, the public sector, the non-governmental sector, and the Catholic Church travelled to India. We held talks at 11 locations between Rameswaram and Nagapattinam in India, with an emphasis on the impacts of this issue on our people.We took steps to continue the people-to-people dialogue.

During these discussions, we reached an agreement to continue these discussions where the limits to which Indian fishermen should adhere to when entering Sri Lankan waters was also discussed. In addition, these discussions helped us to reduce the number of days that Indian fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters. We were also able to distance them from Sri Lanka. Earlier, they used to come as close as 500 metres from Sri Lanka. But we were able to limit their movement to four kilometres from Sri Lanka.

Another agreement that was reached by the two parties was about fishing methods used by the Indian fishermen. We informed them of the types of methods that can be used and cannot, and urged them to use only the accepted methods. However, some agreements were not fulfilled. 

Afterwards, as diplomatic discussions were needed, more discussions started – including with the involvement of the fisheries communities of the two countries. While the discussions were in progress, we attempted – when the 2015 Government came to power – to exert pressure aimed at stopping Indian trawlers from entering Sri Lankan waters.

We were able to pave the way for an Act to Amend the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act through Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran and with the involvement of the fisheries community in the North. The Act paid attention to stopping the use of bottom trawlers, imposing higher penalties for foreign bottom trawlers entering Sri Lankan waters, including those coming from India, and introducing laws to confiscate such unauthorised vessels. This resulted in the decreased entry of Indian bottom trawlers to Sri Lankan waters.

However, in a context where the seizure of Indian vessels often leads to political concerns through the Tamil Nadu State Government, later, measures against Indian poachers declined. There is now a new Fisheries Bill, in which certain provisions contained in the existing law have been diluted, which can lead to detrimental impacts as far as this issue is concerned. Certain restrictions relating to poaching have been relaxed to give India (Indian poachers) more opportunities. We oppose it. 

You mentioned that the local fisheries community initiated certain discussions in response to this issue. Do you think that there are non-political measures that the fisheries community can look at to help with necessary long-term solutions?

The laws are formed and relevant officials are appointed by the political authority. A lot of decisions that have an impact on this situation are also political, and are at times geopolitical in nature because of the debts and other dealings that Sri Lanka has with other countries it engages with. In this context, it is impossible to deal with this issue through an approach that is not political.