{"id":180913,"date":"2022-04-23T20:13:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-23T14:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=180913"},"modified":"2022-04-25T08:14:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T02:44:37","slug":"fishing-for-workable-solutions-in-the-palk-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/fishing-for-workable-solutions-in-the-palk-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishing for workable solutions in the Palk Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News<\/strong>: Recently, India\u2019s Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka\u2019s Northern Province fishermen died in \u201cmid-sea clashes\u201d<\/strong> in the Palk Bay region. \u00a0In another event, 140 impounded boats of India fishermen were auctioned despite a bilateral understanding on the matter.<\/p>\n

What are the issues in the India-Sri Lanka Fishermen dispute?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

(A) Sri Lankan Fishermen Concern<\/strong><\/p>\n

A section of Tamil Nadu fishermen transgress the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) <\/strong>in the Palk Bay, <\/strong>and poach<\/strong> in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka,<\/p>\n

Use of mechanised bottom trawlers<\/strong> by Indian Fishermen. This method is said to be extremely averse to marine ecology<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Sri Lankan counterparts are facing the ongoing economic crisis<\/strong> in the island nation.<\/p>\n

(B) Tamil Nadu Fishermen Viewpoint<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consequent to the demarcation<\/strong> of the IMBL<\/strong> in June 1974, there is a lack of<\/strong> fishing areas<\/strong> on the India side. For example, the area available for fishing is shallow<\/strong>, full of rocks<\/strong> and coral reefs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983,<\/strong> the mechanised fishing boats<\/strong> can fish only beyond 3 NM <\/strong>from the coast. This explains the trend of the fishermen having to cross the IMBL frequently.<\/p>\n

What are the measures that need to be taken?
\n<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The people<\/strong>, especially fisherfolk<\/strong> of the two countries have common threads<\/strong> of language<\/strong>, culture<\/strong> and religion<\/strong>. This can be used purposefully to resolve the ongoing dispute.<\/p>\n

India-Sri Lankan fishermen problem has to be looked at from humanitarian<\/strong> and livelihood angles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The present Sri Lankan Economic Crisis situation<\/strong> provides opportunity to solve the issue at the negotiating table.<\/strong> The Indian side has already imposed a two-month ban<\/strong> on fishing on the east coast of the country. Sri Lanka should take the next step.<\/p>\n

There is a need for resumption of the fisherfolk-level deliberations<\/strong>. Indian fishermen should propose a roadmap to transition to deep sea fishing <\/strong>or alternative methods of fishing<\/strong>. Further, the Sri Lankan side has to understand that the transition takes time.<\/p>\n

In case Tamil Nadu fishermen damage the properties<\/strong> of the Northern Province\u2019s fishermen, the Indian government should compensate<\/strong> this through the proper channels<\/strong> of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

India should adopt policies for promotion of deep-sea fishing<\/strong>. The Central and State governments should implement the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana<\/strong> in Tamil Nadu in a proactive manner. The scheme covers alternative livelihood<\/strong> measures<\/strong> too including seaweed cultivation, open sea cage cultivation, and sea\/ocean ranching.<\/p>\n

India-Sri Lanka has signed a memorandum of understanding<\/strong> for the development of fisheries harbours.<\/p>\n

Recently, the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) <\/strong>on fisheries held deliberations in virtual format. The JWG has agreed to have joint research on fisheries. The study should cover the adverse impact of bottom trawling<\/strong> in the Palk Bay region.<\/p>\n

The two countries should explore the possibility of establishing a permanent multi-stakeholder institutional mechanism<\/strong>. It should be empowered to regulate fishing activity in the region.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka should take a lenient<\/strong> view<\/strong> of the situation. It should refrain from adopting a rigid and narrow legal view of matters.<\/p>\n

Way forward<\/h5>\n

India -Sri Lanka can develop a model for collaborative endeavours<\/strong> in fishing in the Palk Bay Region.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on an article \u201cFishing for workable solutions in the Palk Bay\u201d<\/strong> published in The Hindu<\/strong> on 23rd<\/sup> April 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: Recently, India\u2019s Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka\u2019s Northern Province fishermen died in \u201cmid-sea clashes\u201d in the Palk Bay region. \u00a0In another event, 140 impounded boats of India fishermen were auctioned despite a bilateral understanding on the matter. What are the issues in the India-Sri Lanka Fishermen dispute? (A) Sri Lankan Fishermen Concern A section… Continue reading Fishing for workable solutions in the Palk Bay<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10498],"class_list":["post-180913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700031817},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}