Fish market grinds to a halt as fishermen begin indefinite strike

Fishermen of Karaikal have gone on an indefinite strike from Thursday demanding the release of arrested fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Fishermen of Karaikal have gone on an indefinite strike from Thursday demanding the release of arrested fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

About 400 boats and 13,000 fishermen and their families were participating in the strike. Fish market sources from Karaikal said every day about 25 tonnes of fish comes to the market and then despatched to different parts of the country and also exported.

“None of the political parties is interested in resolving our issue. We will protest until our voice is heard,” Gajendran Kaliyaperumal, a local fishermen leader from Kilinjalmedu, told The Hindu.

Pointing to the recent arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, he said: “Instead of creating a forum amongst both the country’s fishermen to talk out issues, our governments keep mum when such repeated arrests happen. Nearly 30 fishermen from here are in Sri Lankan Navy’s custody.”

“We are planning to boycott the upcoming elections if concrete steps are not taken to get our fishermen released,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Nagapattinam, a section of country boat fishermen went on a strike at Seruthur village demanding regulation of fishing by allotting specific days for them and the mechanised boat fishermen.

As tussles between the country boat and the mechanised fishermen have become frequent, the country boat fishermen from Seruthur and nearby villages approached the district administration recently. Their efforts to get specific days allotted for them for fishing went in vain.