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Sri Lanka Navy Journal 58
Repercussions of IUU Fishing by Indian Fishing vessels in Sri Lankan waters

In view of Sri Lankan prospects, multiple repercussions have arisen with IUU
fishing by Indian fishing vessels in SL waters and it is shown in the diagram below.

Figure 5 – Impact of illegal fishing by Indian fishermen in SL waters

It is extremely damaging due to its enormous impact on the poor fishing communities
of Northern Sri Lanka. Approximately 5,000 bottom trawlers exist in Tamil Nadu and on
average 2,500 trawlers fish three days per week. This huge fishing fleet engages in bottom
trawling and damaging the fishing gears of poor fishermen and they have to face long
lasting problems as they lose their entire livelihood. And also, Indian trawlers take the fish
and shellfish they catch in Sri Lanka waters back to India, where they are processed and
labeled as products of India. Most of the time when someone buys seafood products from
India, it is possible that they are actually sourced in Sri Lanka, not caught using traditional
fishing techniques, but with mechanized high-tech trawlers on a massive scale.

The most vital impact of IUU fishing by Indian fisherman is bottom trawling and
industrial fishing method that drags large, heavy nets across the seafloor stirring up huge,
billowing plumes of sediment on shallow seafloors that can be seen from space. Scientific
studies show that bottom trawling kills vast numbers of corals, sponges, fishes and other
animals.

Bottom trawling leads directly or indirectly to several of unresolved problems
such as: depleting fishing harvest, livelihood issues of SL fishermen, loosing local revenue,
damaging bilateral relations, etc.