SL Navy apprehends 11 Indian fishermen, impounds fishing trawler
The seized trawler and 11 Indian fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai harbor and handed over to the fisheries officials at Mailadi for onward legal proceedings.
Representative Image
NAGAPATTINAM: The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 11 fishermen hailing from Akkaraipettai fishing hamlet in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu and confiscated their mechanized fishing trawler for unlawful poaching in its territorial waters late on Friday.
State fisheries officials said here on Saturday that the fishermen had set sail into the sea for routine deep-sea fishing on Thursday, when they were incarcerated by the Sri Lankan naval personnel about 41 nautical miles south-east of the Kodiakarai coast.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Navy claimed on its official website that during a special operation to curb the illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers, the Northern Naval Command had spotted a cluster of Indian fishing trawlers engaging in illegal fishing in its territorial waters.
In response, the Fast Attack Craft apprehended an Indian fishing trawler on board an Indian fishing trawler off Point Pedro in Jaffna district.
The seized trawler and 11 Indian fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai harbor and handed over to the fisheries officials at Mailadi for onward legal proceedings.
With this recent apprehension, the Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 333 Indian fishermen and seized a total of 45 Indian trawlers poaching in the island nation's waters so far, this year, it said.