Realm 42: Fishermen Issue
IMBL Crossings, Bottom Trawling, Arrests & Bilateral Mechanisms
42.A — MARITIME BOUNDARY & GEOGRAPHY
NODE 42.1
Kachchatheevu Island Cession
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🏝️
- 1974 agreement ceding island to Sri Lanka
- Loss of traditional Indian fishing grounds
- Persistent political grievance in Tamil Nadu
NODE 42.2
Palk Bay Geography
- Narrow, shallow water body separating nations
- Highly porous and easily crossable boundary
- Rich in maritime biodiversity and shrimp
NODE 42.3
IMBL Demarcation
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- International Maritime Boundary Line (1976)
- Overlapping historic territorial waters
- Lack of visible physical demarcation at sea
NODE 42.4
Traditional Rights Deprivation
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✖- 1976 agreement revoked customary fishing rights
- Only allowing drying of nets/pilgrimage
- Creating structural illegality for TN fishers
42.B — LIVELIHOODS & THE TRAWLER PROBLEM
NODE 42.5
Bottom Trawling Menace
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- Destructive mechanized fishing technique
- Scraping the ocean floor, destroying ecology
- Banned by Sri Lanka, prevalent in TN
NODE 42.6
Resource Depletion
🐟
📉
- Overfishing on the Indian side of IMBL
- Forcing fleets to cross into SL waters
- Threatening long-term marine sustainability
NODE 42.7
Tamil Nadu Fleet Overcapacity
- Thousands of heavily mechanized trawlers
- State subsidies previously fueling expansion
- Imbalance vs. traditional SL fishing methods
NODE 42.8
Northern SL Fishermen Plight
🛶
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- Post-civil war economic recovery struggles
- Nets damaged by intruding Indian trawlers
- Local Tamil vs. Indian Tamil livelihood clash
42.C — ARRESTS, SEIZURES & HUMANITARIAN IMPACT
NODE 42.9
SL Navy Interdictions
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- Aggressive patrolling by Sri Lankan Navy
- Incidents of firing and mid-sea collisions
- Fatalities sparking massive TN protests
NODE 42.10
Arrests & Imprisonment
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- Hundreds of fishermen arrested annually
- Prolonged detentions in foreign jails
- Severe psychological and economic family toll
NODE 42.11
Foreign Fisheries Act (2018)
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- Draconian Sri Lankan legal amendment
- Imposing exorbitant fines for illegal entry
- Criminalizing bottom trawling explicitly
NODE 42.12
Confiscation of Assets
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💰
- Boats seized and rarely returned
- Destruction or nationalization of trawlers
- Permanent wiping out of generational capital
42.D — BILATERAL MECHANISMS & DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
NODE 42.13
Joint Working Group (JWG)
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🤝
- JWG on Fisheries instituted in 2016
- Ministerial and secretarial level dialogues
- Expediting release of arrested fishermen
NODE 42.14
Coast Guard Hotlines
- Direct communication between security forces
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) setup
- Preventing escalation at sea
NODE 42.15
Deep Sea Fishing Scheme
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🎣
- Blue Revolution diversification push (India)
- Subsidizing transition from trawlers to longliners
- Moving fleets away from the shallow Palk Bay
NODE 42.16
Humane Treatment Mandate
🛡️
👥
- Agreement on "no violence" during arrests
- Treating the issue as a humanitarian concern
- Avoiding use of force under any circumstances