Fishermen of Nagapattinam, Karaikal and Pudukottai districts began an indefinite strike from Wednesday, demanding the release of the arrested fishermen and seized boats by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at Akkaraipettai in Nagapattinam. It was attended by fishermen of the coastal areas. The meeting comes a day after 43 fishermen of the Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday on the charge of poaching off the Jaffna coast.
Mechanised boat fishermen alone would join the strike and country boats were exempted from it, said G. Thiruvalarchelvan, a fisherman of Akkaraipettai, who took part in the meeting.
In all, 81 fishermen were arrested and 87 boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The meeting urged the Central government to find a permanent solution to the problems faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen to enable them carry on with fishing activity without any trouble.
