CHENNAI: Sri Lankan has arrested 1,306 Indian fishermen and seized 179 fishing boats since 2023, Union govt told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. As of July 23, thirty fishermen and 171 boats seized in these years remained in Lankan custody.Tamil Nadu accounted for 1,182 of the captured fishermen, which is more than 90% of the fishers arrested during the period. Another 107 were from Puducherry, while the remaining fishermen were from Kerala, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.In a written reply to a query from Congress MP Praveen Chakravarty, Union minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said, “The fishermen are arrested from time to time for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in Sri Lankan waters.” Arrests peaked in 2024, when 560 fishermen were apprehended, including 526 from Tamil Nadu. Sri Lankan authorities arrested 360 fishermen in 2025 and 240 in 2023. Till July 23 of this year, 146 fishermen, including 119 from Tamil Nadu and 27 from Puducherry, had been arrested.The number of boats seized rose from 35 in 2023 to 75 in 2024, before declining to 48 in 2025. Another 21 boats had been seized till July 23 of this year. Of the 179 boats seized since 2023, 165 were from Tamil Nadu, the minister said.According to the ministry’s year-wise figures, 23 fishermen arrested in 2026, two in 2025 and five in 2024 remain in custody. Sri Lanka was also holding 21 boats seized in 2026, 44 in 2025, 75 in 2024 and 31 in 2023. Only eight boats seized during the four-year period had been released.The minister said the govt had consistently raised the early release and repatriation of fishermen and their boats with Sri Lanka through bilateral mechanisms, diplomatic channels and official-level interactions. India had urged Sri Lanka to treat the issue on “humanitarian and livelihood grounds.”Six meetings of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries have been held so far, with the latest taking place in Oct 2024. The group includes representatives of Tamil Nadu govt. The minister, however, did not respond to the query relating to compensation or livelihood assistance given by the Centre to the families of detained fishermen or to owners whose boats were not returned. He also did not specify any specific mechanism agreed upon in the meetings to prevent recurring arrests.
