Sri Lankan flotilla protests against Indian poaching

Sri Lanka's fishermen launched a flotilla of boats yesterday demanding that the government block Indian trawlers from poaching in the island's prawn-rich northern waters. Boats flying black flags and carrying opposition legislators travelled 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the northeastern fishing town of Mullaittivu to the island's northernmost tip, Point Pedro. "We have come in boats to protest bottom trawling by Indian fishermen," M. A. Sumanthiran, a legislator for the main Tamil opposition party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told reporters in Point Pedro. Bottom trawling  involves dragging heavy nets across the sea floor to catch a large volume of fish. It causes severe damage to the marine ecosystem.