Rameswaram fishers set sail after 12-day strike

MADURAI: After twelve days of strike, the fishing jetty in Rameswaram was alive with fishing activities resuming and several boats venturing into the sea on Saturday.

The fishermen set off to sea after obtaining permit tokens from the Department of Fisheries, according to the sources. Earlier this month, the fishermen went on strike, urging the intervention of the central and state governments for the early release of jailed Tamil Nadu fishermen and their boats from Sri Lanka.

S Emarit, the secretary of All Rameswaram Mechanized Boats Fishermen Association, said that as Ramanathapuram MLA Katharbatcha Muthuramalingam and the district administration ensured that steps were under way to facilitate meetings with Chief Minister MK Stalin and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar through Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, the Association called off the strike temporarily. Around 250 boats had set sail from Rameswaram, he said.

NJ Bose, the president of Rameswaram Thuraimugam Visaipadagu Meenavar Nala Sangam, noted that the fishery is no longer productive and has been depleted.

Raising concerns over the fishery depletion, he said, untended fishing gear was the main cause. Citing these, he emphasized the prohibition of twin bottom trawling mechanized boats and instead the adoption of seine fishing by country boats to mitigate fishery depletion.

The poor state of fishery resources has made the Rameswaram fishers engage in fishing in oceanic waters, but unfortunately, our fishermen get arrested for crossing international borders at sea. Therefore, the authorities had to strictly prohibit twin bottom trawling and should not allow banned fishing methods to conserve fish stocks, he said.