Joint Working Group on Fisheries a significant progress: Lanka

The establishment of the Indo-Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries is a "significant progress" towards finding a permanent solution to the emotive issue of fishermen, a senior Sri Lankan politician said today as he spoke out against "bottom trawling" and stressed the need for "sustainable fishing".

A day after the two countries decided to set up the Joint Working Group (JWG), Sri Lankan Member of Parliament M A Sumanthiran said the biggest issue was of "bottom trawling".

"Ninety per cent of the issue is bottom trawling. Both sides have agreed that this is a problem and needs to be stopped. It destroys the seabed and drastically affects the marine life which will lead to no fish in the water," he told reporters at the Lankan High Commission here.
 

Sumanthiran said close to 1,000 such Indian trawlers operate in the Lankan waters which is against the concept of sustainable fishing.

He said that a bill banning bottom trawling will be passed in the Lankan Parliament early next year.

"If this issue is resolved, the rest of the matter can easily be worked out," he said.

The two sides agreed on setting up the JWG to meet every three months and a meeting between the Ministers for Fisheries every six months.

The delegations would include representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Coast Guards and Navies of both countries. The 1st Ministerial Meeting would be held on January 2, 2017 in Colombo.

Expediting the transition towards ending the practice of bottom trawling at the earliest, working out the modalities for the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handing over of apprehended fishermen, and ascertaining possibilities for cooperation on patrolling are among the Terms of References for the JWG.

"We think this is a significant progress in finding a solution to the outstanding issue which is also an emotional one," the Lankan leader said.

Both governments agreed to the request by the fishermen associations that there should be no violence and no loss of life in the handling of fishermen by the Navies and Coast Guards of the two countries.