The Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday arrested 8 Indian fishermen and seized their trawler for allegedly poaching in the island nation's waters, according to an official release.

The arrests were made during a search operation in the north of Mannar, the Navy said in a press release.

The eight fishermen and their trawler would be handed over to the Fisheries Inspectorate in Mannar for legal proceedings, it said.

“The North Central Naval Command spotted a group of Indian fishing boats engaging in illegal fishing, trespassing into Sri Lankan waters in the early hours of today. In response, the North Central Naval Command deployed its Inshore Patrol Craft to drive away those Indian fishing boats from island waters, north of Mannar,” it said.

Fishermen from both India and Sri Lanka are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each other’s waters.

The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering the island nation's territorial waters.

The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.

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