The Sri Lankan navy has detained two mechanised boats with 21 fishermen, who had gone for multi-day deep sea stay fishing from Tharuvaikulam Fish Landing Centre situated about 10 km from here on the East Coast Road.
According to the Tharuvaikulam fishermen, the mechanised boats operating from Tharuvaikulam Fish Landing Centre are involved in multi-day deep sea stay fishing in the international waters beyond Sri Lanka and the Maldives after sailing towards Arabian Sea in the west (via Kerala) from their base. Since the sea in this region is very rough due to inclement weather and heavy downpour in the wake of southwest monsoon, the fishermen from Tharuvaikulam avoid this route during this season and reach their fishing ground in the international waters after crossing the international boundary close to Sri Lanka.
When the mechanised boats, owned by J. Antony Then Danila of Tharuvaikulam and R. Antony Maharaja, also from the same village, were going towards the international waters via the neutral boundary close to Sri Lanka, the boats drifted towards Sri Lankan waters due to strong sea currents and inclement weather. Subsequently, the Sri Lankan navy apprehended the boats at 1 p.m. on Monday, the fishermen said.
“Our fishermen used to release nets in the sea only after 4 p.m. and recover the nets just after the moon rises for better catches. Since the boats have been detained at 1 p.m., it is clear that the detained boats were not carrying out any fishing operations at the time of detention. As they boats were in the international waters, the strong sea currents and rough sea might have dragged the boats towards Sri Lankan waters, which might have led to detention,” says A. Antony Churchil, president of St. Nicholas Gillnet Boat Owners’ Association, Tharuvaikulam.
The fishermen say that the Sri Lankan Navy used to inform the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy immediately after the detention of any mechanised boat from India. However, the neighbouring country is yet to share any such information with Indian Navy or Indian Coast Guard regarding the detention of the two mechanised boats from Tharuvaikulam, says Mr. Churchill.
“We’ve alerted the officials of Department of Fisheries and our MP Kanimozhi about this development and for ensuring early steps to release the detained boats with the fishermen,” he said. Ms. Danila’s boat had gone for fishing for the first time after she purchased the boat on July 26.
“We’ll have to run the boat continuously for five to seven days to reach the fishing grounds in international waters beyond Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Return to the base will also consume similar number of days after fishing. We have to spend at least ₹6 lakh towards fuel, ice bars, nets, grocery for fishermen for month-long stay fishing and will have to spend another ₹2 lakh as wages for the fishermen. So, the owner will be safe if the boat returns to the shore with ₹10 lakh-worth catches at least. If not, the owner will be in trouble. So, the fishermen on board would be taking every possible step for realizing this goal of ₹10 lakh. But, detention like this play spoilsport,” says Mr. Churchill.