Karsten Miranda
Boat owners at Cutbona have called on the government to step up its patrolling activity and infrastructure to prevent bull trawling that is being conducted illegally by boats from neighbouring states. A month and a half since the fishing ban was lifted; the trawler owners at Cutbona have said that the season has slightly improved given the precarious first month.
However, their major concern has been with regard to bull trawling and they felt that there should be better coordination with the authorities who can respond to complaints filed by boat owners, especially the small ones.
South Goa mechanized boat owners’ society chairman, Minguel Rodrigues called for a ban on bull trawling within the territorial waters of India. Cutbona boat owners felt there was a need for better infrastructure in place to monitor and take action against bull trawling.
It maybe recalled that on January 14, 2013, the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar visited Cutbona along with fisheries minister Avertano Furtado and Velim MLA Benjamin Silva, a day after the seizure of 11 Karnataka fishing vessels.
At that point, Parrikar had told fishermen that he favoured a ban on fishing by high speed boats and bull trawling to prevent over exploitation of fish resources. When boat owners had pointed to him the catch of fish by the neighboring boats on account of bull trawling, including shrimp eggs, Parrikar said categorically stated that this was illegal and not permitted by law and how they cannot over-exploit the fish resources like this. He further asserted that high speed and bull trawling scrape the bottom for fish and how it would damage the fishing industry in Goa.
