17 fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy while they were venturing off the Rameswaram coast on Sunday. The protesting fishermen demanded urgent measures for the safe return of their fellow community members.
In the latest instance, eight fishermen who set sail from Rameswaram were arrested and their boat seized, Stalin told External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a letter.
The district administration reached out to NDRF on Monday morning after seven fishermen were stranded in Valsad due to heavy rainfall.
This came days after massive protests by fishermen in Rameswaram, who demanded the release of 74 fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka this year. India and Sri Lanka regularly spar over the issue of fishermen, with several Indian fisherfolk arrested every year.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also urged Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar to secure the release of all the fishermen and their fishing boats under the custody of Sri Lankan authorities.
The fishermen and their trawlers were escorted by the navy to the Kankesanturai port and handed over to the fishing directorate for further action. The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
China condemned Taiwan after the deaths of Chinese fishermen and accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of forcefully inspecting Chinese fishing vessels. However, Taiwan maintains its coast guard officers were acting as per the law and the Chinese vessel was trespassing.
So far this year, some 240 Indian fishermen, along with 35 trawlers, have been arrested for illegal fishing. Earlier on December 6, at least 21 Indian fishermen were similarly arrested with their four trawlers seized in the northeastern waters off Mannar and Kovilan.
The fishermen belong to different parts of Gujarat who were released by Pakistan on Thursday. A state team has reached Punjab to receive the fishermen.
A total of 37 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested, and five of their fishing boats were confiscated by the Sri Lankan navy. These actions were taken after the fishermen were suspected of entering Sri Lankan territorial waters without permission.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said that the 12 detained fishermen had set out for a fishing trip on October 1 from the Tharuvaikulam Fish Landing Centre in Thoothukudi District, and they were apprehended by Maldives authorities after that.
The incident occurred on July 22 on the banks of Nasirpur village in the Pipri police station area, where a Gangetic dolphin got caught in a net laid by the fishermen.
Gujarat news:The fishing boat named UK Sons with five crew members ventured out at sea off Beypore on June 30, 2023. Upon deterioration in weather during the subsequent days, the boat was unable to enter any fishing harbour due to heavy waves and swell, they said.
Pakistan: The authorities are expected to release 199 Indian fishermen on Friday arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the country’s waters.
The Border Security Force apprehended at least three Pakistani fishermen from Gujarat's Kutch district on Monday.
Fishing boat capsizes: Rescuers recovered two bodies while a search operation was underway to trace the missing three people, police said.
These Indian fishermen from Gujarat were arrested by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency in 2020 when they were fishing on the high seas, according to a charge sheet submitted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a special court in Hyderabad in the Andhra Pradesh espionage case.
The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) said that it apprehended the intruding vessels on Friday during patrolling in the Pakistan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“In an operation conducted in seas north of Talaimannar in the dark hours of February 12, Sri Lanka Navy managed to seize 2 Indian trawlers with 12 Indian fishermen while poaching in Sri Lankan waters,” an official statement said.
The fishermen, kept in Karachi's Landhi Jail, were released on Sunday on humanitarian grounds. Deputy Superintendent of Police Azeem Thebo said that with the release of these 20 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture, there are now 568 Indian fishermen left in the jail, the Dawn newspaper reported.
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