Fishermen Issue in India-Sri Lanka Bilateral Relations

The fishermen issue is the long-running problem of Indian fishermen, mostly from Tamil Nadu, crossing the sea boundary into Sri Lankan waters to fish, and being arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy, with their boats seized. It is the most frequent source of friction between the two countries, and it mixes livelihood, environment, law and politics. At its heart is the narrow, shallow and fish-rich Palk Bay, which both countries share.

Why does the problem keep happening?

• Geography: The Palk Strait is only about 53 to 80 km wide. In many places, an Indian boat can cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) within a short trip. Fishermen say the line is invisible in the sea and easy to cross by mistake.
• Overfishing on the Indian side: Indian waters near the coast have been heavily fished for years, so catches there have fallen. The richer grounds lie on the Sri Lankan side, along the northern coast of Sri Lanka.
• Bottom trawling: Many Tamil Nadu boats are bottom trawlers. A bottom trawler drags a heavy, weighted net along the seabed. It is like sweeping a floor with a giant rake: it catches everything, including baby fish, and destroys coral, seagrass and the places where fish breed. The Palk Bay is shallow, so the damage is serious.
• History of shared waters: Before the 1974 and 1976 agreements, fishermen from both sides fished freely in these waters. Many Indian fishermen feel the agreements took away their traditional grounds.

How did it develop?

• 1974 and 1976: Sea boundary agreements were signed. The 1976 exchange of letters said fishermen of each country would not fish in the other's waters.
• 1983 to 2009: During Sri Lanka's civil war, northern Sri Lankan fishermen were kept off the sea by security restrictions. Indian trawlers moved into these empty waters.
• After 2009: When the war ended, northern Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen returned to the sea and found their grounds being trawled by Indian boats. Their small boats and nets were often damaged. This made the conflict also one between Tamil fishermen on both sides.
• 2016: The two countries set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries, which first met on 5 November 2016, to find a lasting solution. India said it would phase out bottom trawling in the Palk Bay.
• 2017: Sri Lanka's Parliament passed the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Amendment) Act, 2017, banning bottom trawling in its waters, with heavy fines and possible jail terms for violators.
• 2017: India launched a scheme under the Blue Revolution programme to help Tamil Nadu fishermen replace about 2,000 bottom trawlers with deep-sea fishing vessels over three years (the Palk Bay scheme). Tamil Nadu also stopped new registrations of bottom trawlers in the Palk Bay area.

What happens when fishermen are arrested?

The Sri Lanka Navy detains the crew and seizes the boat. The fishermen are produced before a local court in Sri Lanka. Many are released after diplomatic efforts by India's High Commission in Colombo, but boats are often kept for long periods and some are later confiscated. Repeat offenders and boat owners can face jail terms. According to recent reports, Sri Lanka arrested about 1,300 Indian fishermen between 2023 and mid-2026, most of them from Tamil Nadu.

India's position

India treats the issue as a humanitarian and livelihood matter. It asks Sri Lanka to avoid the use of force and to release fishermen and boats quickly. At the same time, it has accepted that bottom trawling must end, and it supports moving fishermen to deep-sea fishing. India has also said, before its own Supreme Court, that it will not reopen the 1974 and 1976 agreements.

Commonly confused concepts

• Bottom trawling vs deep-sea fishing: Bottom trawling drags nets along the seabed in shallow water. Deep-sea fishing, such as tuna long-lining, uses long lines with hooks in deep, open ocean waters, and puts less pressure on shallow coastal areas.
• Territorial sea vs EEZ: The territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from the coast and is fully under the country's control, like its land. The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles, but only gives rights over resources. In the narrow Palk Bay, the two countries' zones overlap, so an agreed boundary line (the IMBL) divides them.
• JWG vs Joint Commission: The JWG on Fisheries is a working-level body only for fisheries. The India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission is a broader, foreign-minister-level body covering the whole relationship.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Livelihood: Fishermen have loans on expensive trawlers and families to feed. Switching to new boats is costly, and many say subsidies and training are not enough.
• Ecology: Continued bottom trawling harms the Palk Bay's coral and seagrass beds, which will eventually hurt fishermen on both sides.
• Slow change: The deep-sea scheme has been slow, with fewer vessels delivered than planned, and many fishermen find deep-sea fishing far from home difficult.
• Way forward: Experts suggest faster shifts to deep-sea fishing and mariculture (seaweed and fish farming), better enforcement against trawling, regular JWG meetings, joint patrolling, a hotline between the coast guards and navies, release of detained fishermen and boats, and talks between fishing communities of both countries.

Concepts to Know

• International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL): The agreed line in the sea dividing Indian and Sri Lankan waters. Crossing it to fish without permission is treated as illegal fishing by Sri Lanka.
• Mariculture: Farming of fish, shellfish or seaweed in the sea, in a controlled area, instead of catching wild fish.
• Blue Revolution: India's programme to grow the fisheries sector in a modern and sustainable way.
• High Commission: The name for an embassy between two Commonwealth countries, such as India and Sri Lanka.
• Nautical mile: A unit used at sea, equal to about 1.852 km.