The Hindu : Front Page : 45 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested in Indian waters

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45 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested in Indian waters

Staff Reporter

Found engaged in illegal exploitation of maritime resources

ROUNDED UP: Coast Guard personnel with Sri Lankan fishermen and their boats.

RAMANATHAPURAM: Forty five fishermen of Sri Lanka, who came in fishing trawlers, were apprehended by Coast Guard for entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of Indian waters.

Commandant K. Janardhanan, Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Station, Mandapam, told The Hindu that a Coast Guard ship on routine offshore patrol found a flotilla of trawlers moving 116 nautical miles off Chennai on April 27. The fishing boats, fitted with advanced navigational aids, were engaged in illegal exploitation of maritime resources deep inside the Indian waters. They did not have any valid documents.

Most of the fishermen were Sinhalese belonging to Chillaw near Negamboo. They were detained under Section 3/10 and 7/14 of Maritime Zone of India Act 1981 for illegal fishing. All nine boats had Global Positioning System (GPS) and high frequency sets, which were connected under the world wide communication network. About 2.10 tonnes of fish was seized from them.

Mr. Janardhanan said that the detained fishermen were brought to the Coast Guard station at Mandapam along with their boats on Friday. Interrogation was being carried out by various intelligence agencies to verify their antecedents.

Instructions had been given to patrolling vessels to monitor the movement of boats from Sri Lanka.

The current season was considered a breeding season of fish resources. The government had announced a fishing holiday on the east coast from April 15 to June 15 to facilitate enrichment of marine resources. Maritime rules would be strictly implemented, he said. The fishermen were later handed over to the Mandapam police.

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