The Sri Lankan government will not released any fishing trawlers seized from Tamil Nadu fishermen but plans to auction them off instead, the Daily FT quoted the director general of the department of fisheries and aquatic resources, Lal Fernando as saying.

“The Ministry has taken a firm decision not to release any trawler or mechanised boat caught violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) of Sri Lanka. We will release the Indian fishermen, but not their boats and trawlers,” Mr Fernando reportedly said.

“Though, we keep the trawlers in our custody to discourage them poaching into our waters, there is no reduction in the number of Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan territorial waters,” he added.

“In Tamil Nadu, bottom trawling is prohibited as it damages fishing grounds and marine resources. They (Tamil Nadu politicians) want to protect their marine resources while encouraging their fishermen to engage in this harmful and illegal fishing method in Sri Lankan waters – this needs an urgent solution in order to protect Sri Lanka’s marine resources and our local fishing industry."

Confirming the arrest of 8 fishermen on Sunday, the Sri Lankan navy's spokesperson, Captain Akarm Alavi, said:

“There is no end to Indian fishermen entering our waters. We issue warnings when we sight them but they do not heed our warnings. Therefore, we are compelled to arrest whoever crosses the IMBL of Sri Lanka. When we arrest fishermen, we will hand over them to the Fisheries Department."

See here for more.