Deadlock in Palk Bay

India-Sri Lanka fishing conflicts show no signs of abatement as efforts to phase out destructive trawling practices show little progress

- HARIPRASAD RADHAKRISHNAN

AMONG THE boats lined up at a fishing harbor in southeastern Tamil Nadu, trawlers stand out; glass on their windshields is either crudely taped or missing altogether. “The windshields broke when the Sri Lankan Navy pelted stones and alcohol bottles at the trawlers while they were fishing at Palk Bay,” says C Moorthi from Jegathapattinam village in Pudukottai district.

Such sights are also common across neighboring Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram, and Nagapattinam districts, where fishers depend on the rich aquatic resources of Palk Bay—a 15,000 sq km narrow strip of water separating India and Sri Lanka. According to the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department, there are 5,893 trawlers in the state— more than 2,000 from the four districts alone—that go out into the bay to drag a large net along the ocean floor to catch target species. Though bottom trawling destroys coral reefs and causes an irreversible impact on benthic communities, the government has encouraged trawling in Palk Bay since the mid-1960s through loans and subsidies to boost prawn exports. Crabs, prawns, murrel, barracuda, and sardines are also found in the bay.