66 Lankan fishermen held in India, 12 boats seized
VISAKHAPATNAM: After a four-day joint surveillance, helicopters and
ships of the Indian Coast Guard seized 12 Sri Lankan boats for intruding
into Indian territorial waters and arrested 66 crew members about 120
nautical miles off the Visakhapatnam coast.
Motorised boats, which were catching tuna between Visakhapatnam and
Paradip after entering Indian waters from Rameswaram, were brought here
by Coast Guard ships Vajra, Sarojini Naidu, Razia Sultana and Sucheta
Kripalani.
About 2,500 kg to 3,000 kg tuna was seized from them.
"The apprehended fishermen and the seized vessels are being handed
over to Harbour Police Station," Coast Guards Deputy Commandant Lalima
Sharma told The Hindu.
All the boats were caught about 80 nautical miles within the Indian
Exclusive Economic Zone without valid documents and their fishing gears
were not stowed in the prescribed manner.
Cases were booked against them under Sections 3 and 7 of Maritime
Zones of India Act, 1981.
Ten Sri Lankan fishermen were caught last month when they were
poaching tuna near Paradip in four motorised boats.
They were being repatriated to their country after the intervention
of the Sri Lankan High Commission and subsequent orders from the
External Affairs Ministry.
"With high demand for tuna in the European Union, the United States
and Japan, Sri Lankan fishermen are now choosing India to smuggle tuna.
"It takes around 50 hours for them to reach this part of the Bay from
Rameswaram," Andhra Pradesh Mechanised Boat Operators' Association
president P. Ch. Appa Rao said.
Though the EEZ is said to be possessing four million tonnes of tuna,
it is not yet explored fully.
The Hindu
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