Fishing in the Indian Ocean

By Sebastian Mathew

THE INDIAN Ocean and its adjacent seas have the largest number of active fishermen in the world. And nowhere else have so many fishermen been killed, fired on, or arrested. According to press reports, over the last decade, about 200 fishermen have been shot dead in the region, and hundreds injured. In the last four years, about 1,500 fishermen have been arrested. Some of them have languished in foreign jails for up to three years. This takes place despite the fact that imprisonment, as a penalty for violating fishery regulations, is contrary to the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

While death by firing is mainly confined to the waters between India and Sri Lanka, arrests and detention are reported from all over the Indian Ocean region. Indians by Somalia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh; Pakistanis by Iran and India; Burmese by Bangladesh and India; Eritreans by Yemen - from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea, from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean, there are hundreds of cases of fishermen being arrested and detained by authorities for undertaking fishing activities or for just being found drifting in alien waters.

What is most shocking about these incidents is that these are just small-scale fishermen working on board vessels that are 10 to 12 metres in length, with barely enough space to stretch their back, some working for a wage, and some for a share of the catch. But why does a fisherman illegally cross the international maritime boundary, risk arrest and detention, and sometimes even face bullets?

First of all, fishermen get arrested out of sheer ignorance about maritime boundaries. There are no easy ways to demarcate boundaries at sea, unlike on land. Unless you know your coordinates - for which you need navigation equipment - you might very well end up in neighbouring waters and in jail. Sometimes, fishermen accidentally drift into neighbouring waters because of engine failure or strong currents.

Second, some maritime boundaries are unresolved, as between India and Pakistan in the Sir Creek area. Fishermen have no clue if they have the right to fish where they would like to, especially in fishing areas in contested waters. Even if fishermen from both sides do not have any problem in sharing a fishing ground - this seems to be the case between Karachi and Porbander fishermen, for instance - the coast guard often arrest them. In this context, the instruction of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to the Coast Guard on July 4 to hereafter turn away and not arrest Pakistani fishermen in Indian maritime waters was a welcome move. This measure announced before the Agra summit still awaits reciprocal action from Pakistan.

Third, fishermen cross over because they think it is morally right to continue to fish in areas where they had enjoyed traditional fishing rights. Indians, for instance, have traditionally fished around Kachchathivu in the Palk Strait, which is today part of Sri Lanka. Eritreans and Yemenis have traditionally fished in the waters of Zuqar-Hanish and Zubayr groups of islands in the Red Sea, which are now divided between Eritrea and Yemen.

Fourth, and most important, fishing in other exclusive economic zones (EEZs) - the marine space within which the coastal state has exclusive right to living and non-living resources - occurs because of too many boats chasing too few fish in national waters. Take, for instance, the Rameswaram trawlermen crossing over to Sri Lankan waters, braving bullets. They take that risk since the shrimp fishing grounds on the Indian side are depleted, while rich shrimp resources exist on the Sri Lankan side. Similarly, Sri Lankans from the south of the country - mainly from Negombo - go all over the Indian Ocean, prompted by the lack of productive fishing opportunities in their waters and the abundance of tuna resources in other EEZs.

This unprecedented migration of fishing vessels has been facilitated by technological development in the small-scale sector. Improved and affordable technology to the small-scale sector to target fisheries resources even in distant waters became available in the 1990s. Global positioning systems (GPS) and radio communication; hull, nets, hooks and rope made of stronger and lighter material; and growing markets for fish and fish products, have emboldened the small-scale fishermen to venture out into distant fishing grounds.

What should be done about this ``illegal'' fishing and cross- border migration of fishermen? Different approaches are needed. Fishermen found drifting or stranded need to be treated with compassion. There should be a mechanism to immediately send them back home. If the fishermen are from neighbouring countries the Coast Guard should turn them back if they are found within reasonable limits of the maritime boundaries.

As for traditional rights, there are legal measures to accommodate such fishing rights that fall outside national jurisdiction although these measures are seldom implemented. In spite of some ambiguity in the interpretation of the 1974 Agreement between Sri Lanka and India one can still infer (from Articles 5 and 6) access rights to Kachchathivu for Indian fishermen, which they have traditionally enjoyed before the Agreement came into force. Provisions to fish are also made for traditional Indonesian fishermen in the Australian exclusive fishing zone. The 1998 Tribunal of the International Court of Justice for Eritrea-Yemen arbitration on sovereignty over Zuqar- Hanish and Zubayr groups of islands in the Red Sea ruled that even on islands where sovereignty was awarded to one country, traditional fishing rights of fishermen from the other country should be guaranteed.

Under UNCLOS, there are provisions for a country to share its surplus total allowable catch (TAC) with others. But, so far, such arrangements have only been negotiated for large-scale or industrial fishing vessels. As small fishing vessels have significantly improved their range of operations, Governments in the Indian Ocean region should start negotiating fisheries agreements with each other. There are tuna resources, for example, in the waters of the Indian Ocean that are under-used or harvested by industrial fishing vessels originating from outside the region - from Japan, Taiwan, France, Spain, and Italy. They fish about 470,000 tonnes of tuna and tuna-like fish, says the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.

Successful fisheries agreements can be negotiated between countries with excess capacity in small-scale fisheries, such as Sri Lanka and India, with countries such as Seychelles, Madagascar, Mozambique or Somalia. These agreements should recognise the importance of responsible fisheries management and make provisions for non-destructive small-scale fishing techniques and practices.

Access arrangements should be subject to licensing requirements. Countries in the Indian Ocean that provide access to their fishery resources should also be paid an access fee, at least equal to the share of the landed value that they currently earn in access fee from non-riparian industrial fishing nations. Riparian arrangements between countries in the region can lead to better living standards for small-scale fishermen, reduce pressure on national fishing grounds, and help transfer small- scale fishing technology from, for example, South Asia to East Africa and islands in the Indian Ocean.

We must recognise the many factors that contribute to the accidental or intentional movement of fishermen across boundaries. A judicious mix of compassion, recognition of traditional rights and development of legal regimes to facilitate formal movement of small-scale fishing vessels could contribute significantly to put an end to the shameful drama that is now a feature of the Indian Ocean.

(The writer is Executive Secretary, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, Chennai.)

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