Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar on Thursday (May 14, 2026) urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to ban the destructive bottom trawling fishing method, a practice prohibited in Sri Lanka since 2017. Expressing willingness to resolve the fisheries conflict through talks and diplomatic channels, he said he hoped to travel to Tamil Nadu to meet the newly elected leader.

Also read: The Palk Bay fisheries conflict: A tale of competing livelihoods and a depleted catch

Addressing a press conference in Kilinochchi in the island’s Northern Province, Minister Chandrasekar made mention of the long-festering fisheries conflict in the Palk Strait, which impacts Tamil fishermen in northern Sri Lanka and their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, in response to a question from the media.

Referring to Mr. Vijay as “an actor we all like”, Mr. Chandrasekar congratulated him on his recent election win. “There is new hope within the State, where the people have rejected family rule and corruption. They have opted for change and voted for Mr. Vijay,” he said. “Now that you have voted for a change, don’t stand with your hands tied; continue speaking up for the issues that matter to you and prompted you to vote for change,” he told Tamil Nadu’s voters.

Terming Mr. Vijay’s recent letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, seeking New Delhi’s intervention on the release of six Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested recently,  a “good move”, Mr. Chandrasekar said that whilediplomatic channels must be pursued on the issue, it is important for Mr. Vijay to understand why the arrests are being made in the first place.

In the early hours of May 12, 2026, six fishermen, all natives of the Kanniyakumari district, who ventured into the sea from Mandapam, were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. The fishermen set out to fish despite the ongoing annual ban in Tamil Nadu that is in effect until June 14, 2026. 

“The arrests are not arbitrary. Authorities detain fishermen from Tamil Nadu because they pursue an illegal fishing method in our territorial waters. Bottom trawling destroys marine resources and severely threatens the livelihoods of our northern fishermen,” the Sri Lankan Minister said, reiterating a position that war-affected Tamil fishermen along Sri Lanka’s northern coast have been highlighting for years now.  

Around 25 % of the people on the island’s north and east depend on fisheries for livelihood, Mr. Chandrasekar added. “Mr. Vijay should identify those who own the bottom trawlers and look at the daily wage fishermen employed by them,” he said, adding that once the Chief Minister takes necessary steps to ban bottom trawling, the need to arrest Tamil Nadu fishermen in Sri Lanka will not arise.

According to data published by the Sri Lankan Navy, a total of 346 Indian fishermen were arrested in 2026, on charges of illegal fishing in the island’s territorial waters, while 44 trawlers were seized.