11 fishermen from Karaikal, T.N. arrested by Sri Lankan Navy

Six of them were from Karaikal and five from Mayiladuthurai district

A view of Karaikal harbour. File | Photo Credit: SRINATH M

11 fishermen belonging to Karaikalmedu in Karaikal and nearby coastal habitations of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, were held by Sri Lankan Navy in an operation held in the northeast of Veththalakerni in Sri Lankan waters on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.

A naval team attached to Northern Naval Command intercepted the trawler with the 11 fishers on board and took them, along with the confiscated vessel, to the Kankesanthurai Fisheries Harbour. Their custody was reportedly entrusted with Mailadi Fisheries Inspector for onward legal proceedings.

The arrested fishermen consisting of the trawler owner S. Rajkumar, Thangavelu, Arumugam, Prabu, Madhan and Manickavel of Karaikalmedu fishing hamlet, and Dhandapani, Senthil, Muthuvel, Selvamani, and Kannadasan belonging to Mayiladuthurai district, had reportedly ventured into the sea on December 18 from the Karaikal Harbour.

The Sri Lanka Navy had utilised a Fast Attack Craft, deployed to conduct regular patrols and operations in its waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers, for the chase-and-arrest operation.

The Naval personnel of Northern Naval Command were engaged in chasing away a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers who were spotted as they were engaging in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters when the 11 fishermen were said to have been arrested.

So far in 2022, the Sri Lankan Navy has seized 36 Indian poaching trawlers and held 264 Indian fishermen, as per an official update.

The operation, according to the Sri Lankan Navy, was being carried out to safeguard the livelihood of local fishermen and ocean resources of the island nation.