The Ministry of Fisheries submitted a memorandum to the Cabinet of Ministers on 18/03/2024 to establish a volunteer force called "Sea Guards" to monitor the forced encroachment of the Indian fishermen to the Northern waters.
The Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Douglas Devananda, stated that this memorandum was submitted to prevent the fishermen of the North from facing many problems due to the arrival of the Indian fishing vessel in the Northern waters.
He further stated that our fishermen were making various efforts to prevent the arrival of Indian fishermen, and to support their efforts, this volunteer sea guard system was introduced. The minister also said that when selecting youth for the volunteer force, youth from the families of the fishermen's associations in the North would be selected. Meanwhile, the livelihood of the fishermen in the north had also been severely affected due to the Indian fishing vessels entering the Sri Lankan waters.
In addition, he mentioned that at least more than 500 of Indian vessels a day came to the North Sea and every Indian fishing vessel forcibly harvested more than 1000 Kg of fish and more than 350 million was lost to the fishermen in the Northern province.
It has also been pointed out in the Cabinet Memorandum that more than 900 Indian fishing vessels enter the northern seas in a week.
