The Sri Lanka Navy arrested seven Indian fishermen and seized their trawler for allegedly fishing illegally in waters north of Talaimannar on Sunday (1 November).
The arrests were made by the navy’s North Central Naval Command after it detected several Indian trawlers operating in Sri Lankan waters, the navy said .
The fishermen and the trawler were brought to the Talaimannar jetty and are due to be handed over to the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources office in Mannar for legal proceedings.
The arrests are the latest in a series off the Northern Province this year, including five fishermen near Talaimannar in March and 25 off Kankesanthurai in February.
Eelam Tamil fishermen have long protested that Indian bottom trawlers destroy their nets and deplete fish stocks, and last month distributed leaflets against Indian trawling in Jaffna. Planned talks between Sri Lanka and India on bottom trawling were postponed with no new date .
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