Mangaluru fishermen allege harassment from Kerala, TN fishers

MANGALURU: Fishermen from Mangaluru have alleged that they are regularly attacked by fishers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the high seas and do not allow them to fish.

Fishermen from Mangaluru region said that over the last two months, at least 50 boats have been damaged and many of them assaulted. They also damage other belongings and the state government should take up the issue seriously with those states, they demanded.

The fishermen explained that during December-February, fishing activity is less in the state’s coast and they head toward Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Likewise, during August-September, fishermen from those states come for fishing in the state cost, but assault local fishermen.

“Let those state demarcate their territorial waters and we won’t go their. Their boats are bigger and they round up four of our boats and harassed us last November. Our boats have stopped going to sea”, explained Hameed, a local fisherman.

“They threw out our nets, ropes and vessels. They throw stones at our boats and threaten us of life. If we can’t go out to sea, we can’t earn anything between December and May. We are in a dire situation now”, said Arun, another fisherman.