Fish happens to be the staple diet of Goans but nowhere in the country is the staple diet of the locals so expensive and elusive as fish is to the Goans. Fish is sold at a prohibitive price in the market and the government seems to have absolutely no control over the price.
Fish has been disappearing from the dining tables of Goans. Now even dry fish is being sold at a prohibitive price. The government does not seem to have control over the quality of fish being sold. There is a ban on fishing activity for a period of two months in a year so that the fish are allowed to grow to their normal size. But the other day baby kingfish were being sold in the market. These baby kingfish, if allowed to grow, would have grown to their full size and fetched a good price for the fishermen and the larger size of this would have been available for the fish lovers.
While in some fish markets fish is sold by weight, in the other cities fish is sold in portions. The size of each portion is dependent on the fish vendor who is unquestionable. As a result the common man is dependent on the whims and fancies, and at times, probably the mood of the fish vendor for the price he/she has to pay for the fish.
To alleviate all these difficulties the government had in the past announced that fish would be sold at a reduced price through its outlets. Now fish lovers can heave a sigh of relief as the government will operate mobile fish vans where fresh fish will be sold at a subsidized rate which will reportedly be 5% more than the wholesale rate.
If fish is sold at a subsidized rate by the government then it will have a direct impact on the price at which fish is sold in the market. Fish-vendors will be forced to sell fish at a reduced price as they will face competition for the first time in a trade which they had monopolized. Obviously this is just the beginning and there will be more fish outlets operating in the State. The question is where will these mobile fish vans be parked? They should operate in places where a maximum number of people will benefit. It goes without saying that the fish that is being sold by these mobile vans will get over in no time. It is also understood that a government-owned fishing trawler will be introduced in the waters on experimental basis. This too seems a step in the right direction. In all this the interest of the traditional fish-vendors should be safeguarded while fish lovers should have the option of buying fish at a subsidized rate.
