Sri Lankan Navy arrests six country boat fishermen from Pamban

A day after arresting five Rameswaram fishermen, Sri Lankan Navy has arrested six country boat fishermen from Pamban on charges of poaching in the island nation’s waters.

The fishermen, who had set out for fishing on July 2 on multi-day fishing along with 500 odd fishermen, were fishing northwest of Kudiramalai point in the west coast of Sri Lanka when the Lankan Navy arrested them around 4 p.m. on Monday, according to reports received here. After seizing their country boat (IND TN 10 MO 2318), the Lankan Navy handed over the fishermen to Puttalam Assistant Director of Fisheries and they are likely to be produced before the Puttalam court on Tuesday, U. Arulanandham, President of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), told PTI .

Expressing dismay over the arrest, S.P. Royappan, Pamban country boat fishermen leader, said they practised traditional fishing methods, using passive fishing gear such as gill nets and hook and line and it was surprising that the Lankan navy started arresting them too.