CANSAULIM: Tension is building amongst the traditional fishermen community residing by the coast and one can witness blatant violations with regards to the fishing ban.
The 61-day annual fishing ban that began on June 1 is applicable to all motorised boats and trawlers but according to the ramponnkars, the Fisheries Department is not fully equipped to crack a whip on such rampant violations.
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The ramponnkars claimed that these boats are carrying destructive gears like LED and bull trawling machinery and there is no one stopping those boats from outside the State entering Goan territorial waters too.
“The fishing ban is supposed to last for two months but in the first two days, there were trawlers leaving jetties from Goa, be it Cutbona, Vasco or Panjim. Who is going to take action against these boats? The Fisheries Minister is talking about
monitoring these jetties but these trawlers still ventured into the sea. The department is unable to stop the use of destructive gear during the season and now during the ban period too,” said Agnelo Rodrigues, President of Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott (GRE).
“Even today, there are trawlers out at sea. The ban applies for the entire west coast but in Goa it appears there is no fear for the law. This monsoon ban is for the proper spawning of the marine species and to allow regeneration of marine resources during the breeding season. If these trawlers kill all the baby fish now, what fish will be there in the future? The quantity of fish is already dwindling,” said Olencio Simoes, General Secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF).
“The government has to start thinking long term. If proper action is not taken today, Goan fishermen will have to stop going out to fish altogether as there won’t be any fish in the sea to fish. If this trend continues, then Goa will head towards fish extinction and be like other countries where the fisheries sector has come to a halt because of the use of such destructive gears and continuous over exploitation of fishing resources,” said Camilo Souza, a ramponnkar.
“What upsets us the most is that we are harassed by the coastal police and even the Navy who threatens us when we go out to the sea during the season. This happens when we don’t do anything wrong. But it looks like this strict scrutiny is just for us traditional fishermen and not the big trawler owners. The Fisheries Department should cancel the licences of the trawlers that are found violating the fishing ban and other orders,” said Joaquim Fernandes, another ramponnkar.
While the Fisheries Department recently seized three trawlers for violating the fishing ban and for using LED lights, the ramponnkars questioned why the department did not do a proper check before the fishing ban started?
“The fact that a trawler was caught with LED lights confirms what we have been saying all this time. They are checking these boats after they have returned to the jetty. This means these boats had it before they went to the sea and the damage was already done. By using LED lights, they destroy even the nursing grounds of several species of fish and marine ecology as well. This destruction is long lasting and extremely harmful,” said a traditional fisherman from Betul.
Incidentally, the ramponnkars from Betul added that they have threatened to block the movement of these trawler owners that use LED lights if the ban on such equipment is not fully implemented.
These fishermen also feel that they have been displaced from their own area from which they have been fishing for generations, due to the size and number of trawlers at the Cutbona jetty. They are also concerned about the presence of migrant labour force in thousands during the season which they allege pose a threat to the local inhabitants.
What poses a big threat to the ramponnkars is the presence of big trawlers from Malpe in Maharashtra and Karwar in Karnataka.
Local fishermen from Mobor, Benaulim and Colva ask how they are the ones who had to alert the coastal police about these boats from outside Goa. They added that in the few instances where the coastal police have caught these boats from outside Goa, they had to be assisted by local fishermen, be it providing them with their boats or telling the coastal police the location of these non-Goan boats.
“It is an utter shame that even after the local fishermen have caught these illegal boats from outside Goa and brought to the notice of the Fisheries Department, still these boats continue to enter our State without any fear. These are the boats that are using illegal fishing equipment and carrying out illegal bull trawling in Goan territorial waters using high speed engines,” said Rodrigues of GRE.
“The coastal police need to get at least 10 more speed boats and adequate machinery to track these boats from outside Goa using satellite imagery. There is also a need for the Fisheries Department of Goa to hold meetings with their counterparts in Maharashtra and Karnataka too. We have heard that our Goan trawlers also sometimes enter the territorial waters of our neighbouring States, which undermines our efforts to stop entry of non-Goan boats into our waters,” said Paul Remedios, a ramponkar.
Simoes accused the Fisheries Department of deliberately going soft on local trawler owners who have been using high-powered engines and big-sized trawlers that exceed permissible limits and allegedly use illegal gears to catch fish in the territorial waters of the State as well as what’s known as the Indian Exclusive Zone (EEZ) .
He pointed out that this has not been happening just this season or this year but over the last five years or so where trawler owners have been indulging in illegal activity, be it bull or pair trawling or using LED light equipment and showing no fear of the law. Simoes further criticised the State government for failing to put a precedent in place.
Rodrigues added that if no action is taken by the Fisheries Department then the disgruntled traditional fishermen will come on to the streets to protest as they are the ones who are suffering and it is their livelihood that could be wiped out in the future.
Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar has stated that the State government will keep police personnel at every jetty, which will be placed under CCTV surveillance. The catch from the trawlers seized were also put up for auction.
