Saturday, May 3, 2008

45 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested in Indian waters

Forty five fishermen of Sri Lanka, who came in fishing trawlers, were apprehended by Coast Guard for entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of Indian waters.

Commandant K. Janardhanan, Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Station, Mandapam, told The Hindu that a Coast Guard ship on routine offshore patrol found a flotilla of trawlers moving 116 nautical miles off Chennai on April 27. The fishing boats, fitted with advanced navigational aids, were engaged in illegal exploitation of maritime resources deep inside the Indian waters. They did not have any valid documents.

Most of the fishermen were Sinhalese belonging to Chillaw near Negamboo. They were detained under Section 3/10 and 7/14 of Maritime Zone of India Act 1981 for illegal fishing. All nine boats had Global Positioning System (GPS) and high frequency sets, which were connected under the world wide communication network. About 2.10 tonnes of fish was seized from them.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/03/stories/2008050357590100.htm

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