New Delhi, July 19 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has underlined the need for "some kind of political compromises" to resolve the frequently occurring fisheries disputes between India and Sri Lanka.
"Our aim should be to ensure a peaceful settlement of these issues and stability of existence of our fishing communities on both sides. This will involve some degree of political compromise," the Foreign Secretary said while inaugurating an international conference on "Fisheries Issues" in New Delhi, organised by Observer Research Foundation, a premier public policy think tank, on Monday night.
Expressing the need for studying the experiences of fellow Asian countries, the Foreign Secretary suggested joint management of fisheries resources, alternative methods of fishing and examining alternative livelihood to resolve the fisheries disputes between countries in the South Asian region.
Rao noted that many countries around the world regard fisheries resources as "common pool resources" since fish care nothing about political boundaries.
"The exploitation of fisheries resources in such a situation can only be managed effectively by cooperation between the States concerned," the Foreign Secretary said, adding "the issue of fisheries is definitely not a zero sum game" and a solution can be found to the problem.
Talking about India-Sri Lanka fishing problems, Rao said both the countries are engaging in a dialogue at all levels aimed at addressing the problem comprehensively and working out a practical arrangement which would allow the fishing communities on both sides to coexist peacefully.
The Foreign Secretary said in this regard, fishermen's associations from both countries have a major role to play as they interact with each other, understand each other's problems better and have the ability to come out with ideas to resolve the issue at hand.
Rao suggested studying the experiences of fellow Asian countries, especially between China and Vietnam, which have signed agreements regulating fishing in their area.
"Some countries have set up common fishery zones. Are there lessons to be learnt from such experiences?" she asked.
She noted that in cases where there are fishing agreements, a Joint Fisheries Committee is also set up, which maintains the equilibrium and order in fishing activity between the two countries concerned.
Cases where fishermen stray into territorial waters of the other country are dealt with efficiently, with the straying fishermen and their vessels released promptly on posting a bond or other form of security, she said.
Rao said China and Vietnam also prohibit destructive fishing, like use of explosives, besides restricting bottom sea trawling.
Rao hoped that since India and Sri Lanka have a mutually agreed maritime boundary, "we should be able to learn from best international practices on how to establish a fisheries management system between the two countries." he aid the two-day conference is particularly relevant for India as it has a coastline of 7500 kilometers and shares a maritime boundary with several of its neighbours, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.
Prominent scholars, stake-holders and officials from India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Holland, Denmark and Australia are participating in the conference looking at various aspects like "Livelihood concerns and ground realities", "Managing the resources, making alternatives possible", "Problem-solving mechanisms and methods".
The session on "Livelihood concerns and ground realities" have papers on "Problems of Palk Bay fishermen on the Indian side", "Problems of Northern and Eastern fishermen from Sri Lanka" and "Problems faced by multi-day fishermen from Sri Lanka".
The session on "Managing the resources, making alternatives possible" have been split into "Palk Bay Commons", "Problem of small-scale fisheries and tackling them", "International perspectives" and a discussion on the papers.
The session on "Problem-solving mechanisms and methods" have speakers like Dr. Y.S. Yadava, Director, Bay of Bengal Inter-Governmental Organisation, Chennai, Prof. Jesper Raajaer Nielson from the University of Alborg, Denmark (on European and African Experience), Dr. Shotaro Hamamoto, Kyoto University, Japan (on Japanese Experience) and Dr. Stuart Kaye, University of western Australia, Perth (on Australian Experience)
Other important speakers include Dr. V. Suryanarayan (Academic Head, Centre for Asian Studies), Dr. V. Vivekanandan (Advisor, south Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies), Dr. Siluvaithasan Augustine Soosai (Jaffna University, Sri Lanka), Dr. Oscar Amarasinghe (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka), Dr. K. Vijayakumaran (Director General, Fisheries Survey of India), Dr. Prabhakaran Paleri (former Director General, Coast Guard), Dr Sebastian Mathew (International Collective in Support of Fish Workers), Dr. Maarten Bavinck (University of Amsterdam) and Dr. K. Gopakumar (former Dy. Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research). (ANI)
Keywords: Rao, ORF, Fisheries, Seminar
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