Context: According to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Fisheries the enduring fisheries conflict in the Palk Bay can be decisively resolved only if the Indian side stops using the destructive bottom-trawling method.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: - Bottom Trawling Method
Bottom Trawling Method
- Bottom trawling is a method of fishing that involves dragging heavy weighted nets across the sea floor, in an effort to herd and capture the target species, like ground fish or crabs.
- It is a favoured method by commercial fishing companies because it can catch large quantities of product in one go.
Ecological Impacts of Bottom Trawling:
- Habitat Destruction: Trawling can cause physical damage to the seabed and the structures that support marine life. The heavy gear used in trawling can crush or remove vulnerable habitats such as deep-sea corals, sponges, and other benthic organisms.
- Biodiversity Loss: The indiscriminate nature of trawling nets can lead to the capture of non-target species, including various marine organisms. This bycatch often includes species that are not commercially valuable and can result in the depletion of non-targeted populations, leading to biodiversity loss.
- Altered Ecosystem Dynamics: The removal of large quantities of marine organisms through trawling can disrupt the balance within ecosystems. Targeted species and their predators may experience declines, leading to cascading effects throughout the food web.
- Slow Recovery: Deep-sea ecosystems have limited resilience, and the slow growth rates of many deep-sea species mean that recovery from trawling impacts can take decades or even centuries. Some species may struggle to rebuild their populations, if at all.
- Carbon Sequestration: Deep-sea ecosystems play a crucial role in carbon sequestration. Trawling can disturb sediments and release stored carbon, contributing to climate change. Additionally, the destruction of deep-sea habitats reduces their ability to sequester carbon effectively.
India - Sri Lanka:
Demarcation of Boundary:
- India and Sri Lanka share a maritime border of more than 400 kilometres, which cuts through three different seas - the Bay of Bengal in the north, the Palk Bay in the center, and the Gulf of Mannar (which opens to the Indian Ocean) in the south.
- Even before the Law of the Sea was negotiated at the United Nations, and India declared its 200-nautical-mile EEZ, India and Sri Lanka signed the maritime agreements of 1974 and 1976.
- The 1974 agreement demarcated the maritime boundary in the Palk Strait and ceded Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka.
- The 1976 agreement demarcated the boundary in the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal and barred either country's fishermen from fishing in the other's waters.
Maritime Conflict:
- Sri Lanka is under pressure from its Northern province fishermen to act against Tamil Nadu fishermen, who they accuse of resorting to destructive bottom trawling. Notably Sri Lanka has banned bottom trawling since July 2017.
- While India promised to end bottom trawling in the Palk Bay and incentivise fishermen to take to deep-sea fishing under the Blue Revolution Scheme, bottom trawlers are still active.
- Fishermen also face a practical problem as under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983. The Act, aimed to protect fishing rights of traditional fishermen near the coast, permits mechanised fishing boats to only fish three nautical miles away from the coast. Since the distance between Dhanush Kodi (Tamil Nadu) and the International Maritime Boundary Line is just nine nautical miles, breaches do occur (i.e., mechanised boats might cross into Sri Lankan waters).