Sri Lanka says it loses more than $50m a year due to poaching by Indian fishermen.
The problem is crippling the country's local fisheries, particularly in the eastern and northern parts of the island, where Al Jazeera shot exclusive photos of Indian trawlers fishing just 4km off the Sri Lankan coast.
India has admitted to "issues relating to the straying of fishermen from both countries into each other's territorial waters" and says it is working to address the problem.
Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez reports from Pesalai in northwest Sri Lanka. (Source:Al Jazeera)