Envisioning a smart resolution to fishing disputes between India and Sri Lanka

Abstract

Poaching activities in the territorial waters off the coast of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka by the fishing communities from the state of Tamil Nadu in India, especially in the wake of the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009, have seriously strained the historic kinship, as also the bilateral international relations between Sri Lanka and India. The objectives of this policy paper are to first, make an informed assessment of the magnitude of these fishing disputes that occur between Sri Lanka and India in terms of both monetary, and livelihood losses incurred by Sri Lanka and the people who are directly affected by the same; and second, to explore scientific or technical solutions to this long running dispute to counter the ineffectiveness of law enforcement and the presumed absence of political solutions