A special discussion on the damage caused to the fishery industry in Sri Lanka due to illegal fishing activities and the measures that should be taken to stop it was held in Kachchathiv Island on 06.03.2023 under the chairmanship of the Minister of Fisheries Mr. Douglas Devananda with the participation of the representatives of the Northern Fishermen's Associations and the representatives of the Indian Fishermen's Associations.
The Minister speaking to the media after this meeting said that the Indian fishermen while invading the country's sea borders in a disruptive manner are using the bottom trawling method to destroy the fishery resources and for any reason, no approval will be given to the bottom trawling industry they expect to carry out. He hopes that the Indian fishermen will receive necessary instructions on how to carry out the fishery industry after the bilateral talks to be held between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that a fair solution acceptable to both parties will be arrived at.
Answering a question raised by the journalists, the Minister said that the fishermen of the Northern Province are forced to suffer severe injustices due to Indian illegal fishing invasions and that they are maintaining good relations with the Indian government while trying to arrive at a solution to this problem. He said that the discussions between the representatives on behalf of the Indian Government were very successful and the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers will be informed about it in the upcoming Cabinet meeting and all necessary steps will be taken to stop the illegal fishing activities by any means.
This discussion was attended by BJP's president of fisheries for Tamil Nadu Province, Mr. Bhusamy, BJP leader Patinam and president of fisheries for the Province, Mr. G. Manoharan on behalf of the Government of India, and representatives of Sri Lanka's Northern Province Fishermen's Associations.
