Gandhinagar, Dec 3 (IANS) Three fishing boats from Gujarat with 16 fishermen aboard were seized by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) Thursday for allegedly entering their territorial waters, a fishermen’s association here said.
Manish Lodhari, secretary of the National Fishing Forum (NFF), told IANS that they had received a message about the boats being seized and the arrest of the fishermen.

He said with the latest incident, a total of 429 Indian fishing boats had been seized by the PMSA in the last six years, while the number of Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails now stood at 610.

Cross-water violations in the seas off India’s Gujarat - Pakistan’s Sindh - is rampant as fishermen, on both sides, are known to stray - knowingly or unknowingly - into each other’s territorial waters chasing fish.

However, after the 26/11 Mumbai attack - where a Porbandar-registered fishing vessel ‘Kuber’ was commandeered by terrorists to sail through Indian waters undetected - Indian security agencies have heightened vigil and warned their own fishing craft not to cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

According to official sources, about 1,000 fishermen and 155 fishing crafts registered with fishing ports in Saurashtra have been grounded for crossing the IMBL and their identity cards and boat licences seized.

“Heightened vigil has become necessary in view of the terror strikes and an elaborate system has been put in place to ensure that Mumbai type transgressions do not take place through our fishing lanes,” said a fisheries department official.

The new procedure now entails seized licences and identity cards being sent across to the local police for verification, which are then returned if nothing objectionable is found.

Lodhari said the long time taken in the return of licences and identity cards was creating considerable hardships for the fishermen as it hits their earnings.

“Many boats and men have been languishing for months and this situation requires to be seriously looked into. Earlier, first time offenders were released with a warning and second time offenders saw a cut in their diesel supplies. Things are much, much more difficult now,” he added.