MADURAI: Rameswaram fishermen have abstained from work for the third consecutive day in support of their demands put forward to the central government.
The fishermen, along with aggrieved families, protested in front of the fisheries department to draw attention to their plight and seek help from the government. Condemning the arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy, S Emarit, secretary of Rameswaram All Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association, said almost 2,000 fishermen, who joined the strike had lost their livelihoods.
The three-day strike incurred a loss of Rs 6 crore to the fishing industry. A delegation of Rameswaram fishers on Monday met fishermen in Karaikal and advised them not to engage in fishing near Neduntheevu and Katchatheevu.
Emarit said because of the Karaikal fishermen, who have steel hulled boats equipped with high-horsepower engines, and often cause damage to fishing nets cast at sea by the Sri Lankan fishermen, the Rameswaram fishers were apprehended. The government authorities should intervene and stop this, he said.