When Ashoka* heard the shoes approaching, he began to tremble with fear. The 23-year-old was in the engine room of his boat, when three men from the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boarded the vessel. When Ashoka, an Indian fisherman from the southernmost island of Pamban, came out on deck, he saw officers beating and pushing the eight fishermen on his boat, using guns, iron bars and wooden logs.

The ordeal lasted for an hour, with one of the uniformed men shouting: “Hit them harder,” recalls Ashoka, who was also beaten.

Later, the hunters – all Indians – were handcuffed and chained, the steel edges cutting their skin and itching. Bound together, none of them could move; Otherwise they will all fall. The fishermen were transferred to a naval camp in Karinagar, northern Sri Lanka. Fifteen days later, two men – who the fishermen later learned were from the Indian embassy in Colombo – visited them and offered them towels and soap. The men were finally released a month after their arrest.

It was 2019, and the fishermen were arrested Katchatheevu, an uninhabited island Which comes under the territory of Sri Lanka, for fishing in the waters of that country. However, the horrors of the Ashoka Experiment have become more and more common since then – peaking in 2024, with the number of Indian fishermen detained by Sri Lanka rising, amid rising tensions over allegations that military authorities mistreat them in detention.

Sri Lanka arrested 535 Indian poachers in 2024, nearly double the previous year, according to Indian government data. As of November 29, 141 Indian fishermen remained in Sri Lankan prisons, and 198 fishing vessels had been seized.

In September, five fishermen who had crossed Sri Lankan waters returned to Pamban with their heads cut off after being arrested and, according to the fishermen, were treated like convicts. They each had to pay fines of 50,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($170) to secure their release.

Protests have erupted within the fishing community in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where Pamban is located, against their government out of frustration with New Delhi’s inability to ensure their security. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, three other Indian fishermen were sentenced to six months in prison with fines.

The National Liberation Movement and the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to emails sent by Al Jazeera requesting comment on allegations that Sri Lankan officers are mistreating detained fishermen.

“I hope they treat us like human beings,” says Ashoka.

“This is our hunting ground.”

The Gulf of Mannar, an inlet of the Indian Ocean linking India and Sri Lanka, is rich in biodiversity and a source of livelihood for fishermen in both countries. Katchatheevu, a small island located in the Palk Strait, a stretch of ocean that divides the two countries, was historically a common fishing ground for Indians and Sri Lankans. Indians’ fishing rights in the area were revoked in 1976 after India ceded the island to Sri Lanka in 1974. Today, Katchativu is the site of frequent arrests of Indian fishermen.

For Indian fishermen in Pamban, crossing the maritime border into Sri Lankan waters is a matter of survival.

Fishing on the Indian side has declined amid climate change, increasing plastic pollution in the sea and the rampant use of mechanized fishing vessels over decades. Trawlers, which scrape the seafloor in search of fish, destroy seafloor habitats, including coral reefs. This, in turn, disrupts reproductive cycles. Marine experts also blame fishing vessels for sea pollution due to abandoned nets and fuel leaks.

The seabed on the Indian side is rocky, and the international border near fishing spots like Rameswaram in Pamban begins just 12 nautical miles (about 22 kilometers) from shore, reducing the fishing area for Indian fishermen. For these fishermen, the waters across the maritime border are a legal area to sail to.

“This is our fishing ground. Fishermen cross the border knowing full well that they might be arrested or even die. If the fishermen return without any fish, they will not be able to survive,” says P Jesuraga, president of the Motorized Boat Fishermen’s Association in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district. alive”.

He added that often, fishermen enter Sri Lankan waters without intending to go there.

“About half the time fishermen get swept to the Sri Lankan side because of water currents or if it is too dark or raining,” says Jesuraja.

“Clashes between fishermen”

In many ways, experts and fishermen accept that India contributed to this crisis through policies it first initiated seven decades ago.

Starting in the 1950s, with support from international funding, India encouraged the use of fishing vessels. The result was a significant increase in the income of Indian fishermen, but at the cost of destroying coral reef formations. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan side has a relatively rich fish population: the waters are shallower, and the country has a wider continental shelf that is more suitable for fishing. Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem is richer than India’s also because it does not allow trawling.

Fear of Sri Lankan fishermen That Indian fishing vessels in its waters will eventually lead to a decline in marine species populations – just as has happened in Indian waters.

“This looks like a battle between hunters in both countries,” adds Jesuraja.

While the Indian government is engaged in diplomatic talks with Sri Lanka to secure the release of the fishermen, it is unable to return their boats – a lifelong investment gone forever, Jesuraj said.

Adding to their woes, the United States in 2019 imposed a ban on wild-caught Indian shrimp because Indian ships often do not deploy what are known as turtle exclusion devices. These devices allow turtles accidentally caught while hunting to escape. India does not have any regulations requiring the use of these devices, so fishermen avoid using them.

India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) estimates that the country has lost $500 million in revenue from shrimp exports since the start of the US ban. This ban, in turn, means that other countries are able to bargain for lower prices as they seek to buy Indian shrimp, Jesuraja says.

The high cost of diesel has also affected Indian fishermen. “Earlier, diesel price was Rs 50 [about $0.6 at the current rate] A liter and a kg of prawns will be sold at Rs 700 [$8]. Now the price of diesel is around Rs 100 per litre, and one kg of prawns is sold for Rs 400-500. [$4.6-5.8]“, says Jesuraja.

“Less fish, more plastic”

However, Jessuraja sees climate change and rising sea pollution as the biggest challenges facing Indian fishermen.

“The problem in India is plastic waste, not fishing vessels,” he says. “Reducing plastic waste will solve half our problems.”

“About 10 years ago, when we used to put a fishing net in the sea, we would only catch fish. Nowadays, there is less fish than plastic waste,” says Maryvil, a fisherman from Pamban Island in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, the rainy season was good for fishermen, including those who catch sardines. Now, due to erratic rainfall patterns, freshwater supplies have declined, leading to a sharp decline in sardine populations, Maryville said. Due to the increased frequency of cyclones between November and February, fishermen are also unable to go to sea for several days.

With fishermen facing declining incomes, women are forced to venture into the deep sea to collect seaweed as an alternative source of income. But this practice has also been affected by climate change.

About a decade ago, women from Pamban Island began collecting seaweed as income from fishing began to decline. Mary, a seaweed collector in Pamban, says that this year she was able to collect only about 3 kg of seaweed per day, while she used to collect 20 to 25 kg per day about 10 years ago.

Women are often required to dive up to 3.5 meters (12 feet) under the sea surface without any protective equipment to collect seaweed.

The rise in phytoplankton in the sea due to irregular rainfall and high sea temperatures causes the erosion of seagrasses and coral reefs. As a result, the young fish cannot breathe and die on the beach, says Gayatri Usman, head of Kadal Usai, a community radio station in the area.

The radio station, run by Rameswaram fishermen, helps raise awareness about climate change through local traditions, folk tales and songs. It recently offered 1,000 rupees ($11.60) to every fisherman who rescues a turtle.

“Our intention [is] To make people aware of climate change. We cannot change climate change, but the idea is to make them aware. Our motto is: Think global, act local. “Only if we think about local solutions to climate change, can we combat it globally,” says Othman.

But for many fishing families, it is already too late. The wave of arrests they and their comrades have faced in recent months means that many want their future generations to turn away from fishing. “We never want our children to become fishermen or marry a fisherman,” Maryville says.