Palk Bay Issue: Woes of Tamil Nadu’s fishermen

Relevance: GS-2: India and its Neighborhood- Relations.

Key phrases: Palk bay, Bottom trawlers, Deep sea fishing project

Why in news?

The Palk Bay, a narrow strip of water separating the state of Tamil Nadu in India from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
The bay, which is 137 km in length and varies from 64 to 137 kilometers in width, is divided by the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
Bordering it are five Indian districts and three Sri Lankan districts.

In 1974 and 1976 treaties were signed between the two countries to demarcate the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
The small islet of Katchatheevu, hitherto used by the fishermen for sorting their catch and drying their nets, fell on the other side of the IMBL
The main problem with Indian fishermen is that a large number of them are dependent on fishing in Sri Lankan waters, which is prohibited by the 1976 Maritime Boundary Agreement.
The main issue is the oversized fleet of Tamil Nadu trawlers that fish regularly in Sri Lankan waters. Trawlers greatly damage the ecosystem and hence are unsustainable way of fishing. The Sri Lankan government recently passed a legislation banning trawling.

The IMBL is imaginary, but it was geo-tagged and is visible to the fishermen, due to Global Positioning System (GPS) sets.
Deep Sea Fishing Scheme: Promoted as an alternative to bottom trawling by Tamil Nadu’s fishermen off the Palk Bay, the scheme envisages the provision of 2,000 deep sea fishing boats in place of trawlers by 2019-20.

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The damage to the Indian fishermen could be ameliorated if the announcement is followed by two steps. The trawlers can be used in the Odisha coast where waters are very deep
The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Departments have to seriously monitor, control and carry out surveillance (MCS) of the decommissioning process.
Beyond the deep sea vision, other solutions such as buy-backs, alternative livelihoods and skill development need to be rolled out.

Source: The Hindu