As eight more Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested today by the Sri Lankan Navy, the state government sought the Centre's intervention for the release of all 35 Indian fishermen and 73 fishing boats in the custody of the neighbouring island republic.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa wrote a letter to Prime Miniter Narendra Modi, calling for appropriate actions for a permanent solution to the recurring arrests.

'There is an urgent and imperative need to proactively initiate appropriate actions to deliver a permanent solution to this sensitive issue that plagues the livelihoods of thousands of Tamil Nadu fishermen,' she said in the letter.

A report from Rameswaram said the eight fishermen were arrested and their two boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.

Referring to their arrest, Jayalalithaa said 'our fishermen are only following their traditional occupation and fishing in an area to which they have a historic claim -- their traditional fishing waters of the Palk Bay'.