Tag Archives: Sri Lanka
Workers ‘treated like slaves’ on Scottish fishing boats
Thirty-five men from the Philippines, Ghana, India and Sri Lanka were recognised as victims of modern slavery by the Home Office after being referred to it between 2012 and 2020. The workers were employed by TN Trawlers and its sister companies, owned by the Nicholson family, based in the small town of Annan on the southern coast of Scotland. The TN Group denied any allegation of modern slavery or human trafficking and said its workers were well treated and well paid. The company was the focus of two long-running criminal investigations but no cases of human trafficking or modern slavery have come to trial, although some of the men waited years to give evidence. While TN Trawlers’ lead director, Thomas Nicholson, was under active investigation, TN Group companies continued recruiting new employees from across the world. Video, Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:37
250 fishermen go missing as 16 trawlers sink in Bay of Bengal
Over 250 fishermen of Patuakhali remained missing as 16 fishing trawlers capsized in the Bay of Bengal amid inclement weather on Friday, said Naval Police on Sunday. About 150 fishermen of 18 trawlers that sank in the Bay near Kuakata in Patuakhali have been rescued so far, said Akhtar Morshed, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kuakata Naval Police Outpost. Locals along with a rescue trawler of the fish wholesalers’ association reached the fish landing centre with the rescued fishermen from Saturday evening to 11pm on Sunday, the OC added. 3 stories, scroll down, >click to read< 12:27
Disaster in Sri Lanka: Fishing community affected by MV X-Press Pearl shipwreck to receive Rs. 5000 allowance
Gampaha District Secretary Sunil Jayalath stated that an allowance of Rs. 5000 will be given to 9883 fishing families who lost their livelihood due to the incident of the MV X-Press Pearl from June 15 onward. As a consequence of the shipwreck, 7753 fishing families have directly lost their income and 2130 families who were engaged in occupations such as drying fish and fish netting have lost their income. The numbers of people affected, are staggering. >click to read< 08:29
Sri Lanka: Plastic, chemicals and a devastating environmental hit for commercial fishermen and their communities
The X-Press Pearl is lying half sunken off the coast of Sri Lanka. Images of the ship burning for days have gone around the world,,, Tons of tiny plastic pellets have already washed up on the local beach nearby. Aside from the environmental threats, there are also devastating consequences for the local communities, fishermen who overnight lost their livelihoods and will likely suffer for years to come. Plastic pellets, also called nurdles, are tiny round pieces of plastic, used to make nearly all plastic goods. They will wash up on beaches or end up in the guts of fish and other ocean animals. “More hazardous than the plastic are the chemicals,” >Video, photos, click to read< 14:35
Asia Is Trawling for a Deadly Fishing War
THALVUPADU, Sri Lanka — Stanley Cruz, a fisher in this beachside village on the island of Mannar off Sri Lanka’s northwestern coast, stands with his bare feet in the sand, holding up a green net between his hands. “This is the kind of net, you see. Last week, we lost many hundreds of these. “It keeps happening over and over,” says Mary Subramali, an elderly woman who cleans and sorts the incoming fish. “The trawlers come to take our fish and cut our nets, destroying them with their propellers. My son just lost his for the second time.” She picks up a cold, slippery fish from a basket and severs its head and fins with ease. For her and others on the northern coast of Sri Lanka, losing nets has become a familiar story. Over 30,000 people from the minority Tamil community in Thalvupadu work as fishers, mainly on a small-scale, mostly earning less than $2,500 per year, about two-thirds of the islands’ average. Nets in these coastal societies are precious investments — even a small one costs $23, and the village has lost nearly 1,000 of them. A very good read. click here to read the story 18:28
Sri Lanka releases 126 Indian fishermen
In a humanitarian gesture, Sri Lanka has freed all the 126 Indian fishermen arrested by its navy for allegedly poaching into the country’s waters. Their release on Monday came as Lanka and India completed the formalities for the release of fishermen detained in each other’s country for allegedly fishing in each other’s waters, Colombo Page reported. All fishermen are from Tamil Nadu. Indian authorities are also expected to release 37 Lankan fishermen from their custody. Read the rest here 14:12
