Sri Lanka Steps Up Arrest of Indian Fishermen

The Sri Lankan Navy’s heavy-handed approach to Indian fishermen encroaching into Sri Lanka’s territorial waters has roiled India-Sri Lanka relations again.

The Sri Lankan Navy arrested 32 fishermen from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the early hours of February 23 for violating the International Maritime Boundary Line between India and Sri Lanka. Five trawlers along with their catch were also seized.

There has been a surge in such incidents in recent weeks. Over 131 Indian fishermen have been arrested and 18 fishing boats seized since the beginning of this year. In one incident on January 27, the Sri Lankan Navy opened fire on a boat near Delft island that was carrying 13 Indian fishermen; five of them were injured, two seriously.

Neither the encroachment of Indian fishermen into Sri Lankan waters nor the Sri Lankan Navy’s aggressive handling of the matter is new, although its intensity has ebbed and flowed over several decades.

In the first few post-independence decades, fishing in the Palk Bay, which lies between India and Sri Lanka, was unregulated. In the mid-1970s, the two countries signed agreements demarcating their maritime boundary. Fishermen of one country entering the waters of the other now became illegal.

Meanwhile, big changes were unfolding in fishing. Capital-intensive technology was introduced to fishing in India. The Indian government provided subsidies and other support to get fishermen to use trawlers with a view to developing an export-oriented fishing industry. This led to increased catches.

However, it encouraged over-exploitation of marine resources. Since trawlers use heavy-bottomed nets that scour the ocean floor, they pick up and destroy all marine life, including fish eggs. This results in fish stocks depleting over time. As catches near the Tamil Nadu coast fell, the fishermen were forced farther away from the coast. Soon, they were entering Sri Lankan waters, which in the mid-1970s became illegal.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka was less enthusiastic about switching to trawlers.

With the onset of the Sri Lankan civil war and Sri Lankan Tamil militants crossing the Palk Straits to take sanctuary and replenish their supplies in Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan Navy imposed a fishing ban in the Palk Bay.

When the war ended in 2009 and the fishing ban subsequently lifted, Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen entered the Palk Bay, only to find themselves at a disadvantage, up against Indian fishermen in mechanized trawlers.

The Sri Lankan Navy, long inured to using extreme force against Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen, it now turned its guns on the Indian fishermen, especially in the initial years after the end of the war, particularly between 2011 and 2014. Some 787 Indian fishermen were arrested in 2014 and on average, at least one fisherman from Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts was shot dead every fortnight in 2011 by the Sri Lankan Navy, Rohini Mohan wrote in Tehelka.

The numbers arrested and killed have since dropped. However, they remain high – 528 Indian fishermen were arrested in 2024. Arrests are already on track to top that in 2025.

When arrests or killings of fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy surge, the Indian government issues statements. Following the January 27 incident, for example, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said: “The use of force is not acceptable under any circumstances whatsoever. Existing understandings between the two governments in this regard must be strictly observed.”

The MEA then summoned the acting Sri Lankan high commissioner in New Delhi to lodge a strong protest. The Indian High Commission in Colombo also raised the issue with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The fishermen’s issue is raised routinely with Sri Lankan leaders visiting India.

However, governments in New Delhi and Tamil Nadu have not acted to address the root cause of the conflict – the use of trawlers by Indian fishermen. While trawling is banned in India and Sri Lanka, implementation has been patchy in India. No political party wants to robustly rein in either the big trawling companies or the fishermen crossing into Sri Lankan waters. Fishermen organizations say that the government needs to support fishermen with generous subsidies to help them transition back to traditional fishing.

As for Sri Lanka, it needs to realize that its aggressive response to Indian fishermen will not end the conflict. Although it does subsequently free the fishermen, their detention for several months, the imposition of heavy fines, and the seizing of boats and fish catches are fueling anger among fishing communities in Tamil Nadu, making them less amenable to settle the conflict.

The India-Sri Lanka fishermen’s conflict is not just an issue about sovereignty that can be tackled between governments. It is a multilayered conflict that also involves lives and livelihoods. It needs a multipronged solution.