Thirty-two fishermen, who were fishing operations near Diego Garcia in two mechanised boats, have been detained by the officials. The fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Kerala ventured into the sea from Thengaipattinam fishing harbour in Kanniyakumari district on September 15 for multi-day deep sea stay fishing.
They had been fishing in British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) of Diego Garcia since September 20. The 32 fishermen and their boats, along with the catch, were detained by the BIOT police on September 26 as commercial fishing is not allowed n BIOT waters. The police have also charged that the fishermen were in possession of illegal fishing gear and that they did not heed to the call of the Fisheries Protection Officer by steering the vessels away to evade detention.
The detained fishermen had told the BIOT police that they had planned to continue fishing for 10 more days. Since the fishermen did not enter the BIOT territorial waters intentionally, they should be pardoned and released at the earliest with the boats and the catch, said Justin Antony of International Fishermen Development Trust who has sent appeals to Ministry of External Affairs and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in this connection.