Demands Not Met
VASCO
Though the new fishing season officially kick-starts from Tuesday midnight, for the fishermen community from Khariwado, it’s yet another year of hardships as their long-standing demands for proper sanitation facilities, drinking water, insufficient jetty, insufficient diesel dispensing units and the absence of other basic infrastructure still remained unsolved.
The absence of all these amenities is in violation of the guidelines of the National Fisheries Department as it is mandatory for any state fisheries department to ensure that these essentials are in place at the fishing jetties but the one at Khariwado cannot be repaired or altered by the state administration because it lies in the jurisdiction of Mormugao Port and the state can do nothing until the MPT gives its nod.
The issue of insufficient jetty tops the list. They want at least a 300-metre-long jetty but they are forced to operate from a 75 metre-long jetty which can accommodate only 15 trawlers at one time while others have to wait in queues for loading and unloading operations. Thus operation from this jetty is never an easy task.
“Forget about basic amenities which are prescribed by the department, what Vasco fishermen have got in the name of a jetty is a dilapidated berthing facility which often damages our trawlers while in anchorage. Provision of water, toilet, ice plant, storage, auction hall, net mending and shed facilities and other allied facilities are out of question,” said Simon Pereira Secretary of Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association.
According to fishermen, due to dilapidated and insufficient berthing facility they are forced to spent anything between Rs 2 and 3 lakh to get their vessels repaired annually. “Most of our trawlers are made of wood and thus the moment it comes in contact with corroded steel rods, they get damaged. Also as the jetty is insufficient and as we deal with perishable items, our trawlers owners expect that their boat should unload the catch in a jiffy and this results in a fight between the trawler owners as everyone wants to unload their catch first and and fast and end up being furious,” Pereira added.
As per the local fishing community, every year only after they make requests before the state administration and MPT, they see some repairs works of the jetty by the port authorities, still they are unhappy because the repair works are not done as per the standards due to which corroded steel plates and bars not only damage their boats but also injure people operating at the jetty.
Though most of our members are raring to go for the new season, but as only 50 per cent workers have arrived till now, most of our trawlers will not venture into the seas on Day One. Also most of the workforce that arrived this year is inexperienced and hence fishing with inexperienced crew would also be a trifle difficult this year,” said Jerry D’souza, a trawler owner from Khariwado.
Sand ‘bars’ Chapora fishermen
MAPUSA
Even as fishermen from all over Goa had marked August 1, 2017, as the first day of business, fishermen from Chapora are yet to gather themselves and won’t be able to hit the waves before September 1. With the amount of sand bars at the month of river Chapora, the fishermen here cannot venture out with their boats and any attempt to do so would render in huge losses.
This is not the first time that fishermen here have been affected. This has been a regular feature for years. Last year, they started their venture as late as in October. With the amount of sand bars and level of water, they do business only for four months in a season.
The chairman of Chapora Boat Owners’ Fisheries’ Cooperative Society, Vishwajeet Parab, said, “We get ready for the fishing season 15 days in advance and if allowed, we can even start from July 15, but even after getting all our equipment and labourers ready, we cannot start business because of the sand bars.
Parab added,” The sand bars at the mouth of the river Chapora and heavy waves do not allow us to take out our trawlers. This is also a reason why the number of fishing trawlers has come down to 70 from 140”.
Years ago, around 140 to 150 trawlers used to venture out into the sea from Chapora Jetty but due to sand bars which is making it difficult to carry out fishing business, the number has come down to 70 trawlers from which only 47 are functioning. Sources said the break water project on mouth of river Chapora is the only solution for the problem of sand dunes.
Sunny side up at Margao
Trawler owners were rewarded with a good catch of the much prized solar prawns today as the fishing season in Goa began even though only 40 per cent of the vessels registered with the Cutband Boat Owners Development Union/Society ventured into the sea.
“Most of the trawlers remained at the dock as the staff required to man the boats have not yet arrived from Orissa,” disclosed Savio D’Silva the society president.
Some other trawler owners said heavy rainfall in Orissa that delayed the agriculture schedule has resulted in the labourers staying at home to harvest the crop before coming to Goa and were confident that within the next 15 days, fishing activity will take off in full swing.
Each of the six vessels with purseinne nets that went in the sea returned with around one tone of prawns each while the others had a catch ranging from 300 kg to 500 kg. While nobody could tell how much fish was caught today, it was estimated that around 7 to 8 tonnes of prawns were unloaded at the jetty.
Sanitation continues to be a main cause of concern at the jetty and Savio was hopeful that it would be addressed when the 50 seat toilet facility being constructed is commissioned. “Right now, we have provided open air bathing facility for the staff,” he said.
He pointed out that the staff was at the dock for about 8 hours every day and most of the time they were at sea and did their ablutions while at sea itself.
This year onwards, the society has introduced a new system whereby only one truck will be allowed to park near the jetty for loading or unloading and the next truck will be able to come only when the first has left.
“We are paying the Fisheries Department Rs 2 lakh as parking fees for use of the jetty and the department has empowered us to maintain and monitor the jetty,” he said.
He said there were no problems about the big and small trawlers as the style of catching fish is different for both and added that there are no trawlers bigger than the stipulated length of 20 metres.
While the government pays them compensation only in case of a natural calamity or disaster, the trawler owners insure the lives of their workers so that their family members get some relief in case of any untimely event.
‘Labour pain’ at Jetties
PANJIM
Even as the 61-day fishing ban ended on July 31, fishing activities could not be resumed as the labourers were yet to return from their native places. However, 15 trawlers are likely to venture into the sea for fishing on Wednesday.
When Herald visited Malim Jetty there were hardly any labourers around. “Full fishing activities would begin by August 10 and in my opinion around 15 trawlers are expected to venture into the sea on Wednesday. Last night, none of them ventured into the sea due to the shortage of labourers,” said a worker from Karnataka
“Fishing activities will only resume in a full-fledged manner by mid-August as the labourers who had gone home during the fishing ban period are yet to arrive. Most of them are from Orissa and they are expected to arrive in the next 15 days until then, the activities will be slow,” said Francis D’Souza, Vice-Chairman of the Mandovi Fisheries Marketing Co-operative Society (MFMCS).
“This delay of labourers has put the trawler owners in lot of inconvenience as a lot of maintenance work is pending before the trawlers can be made ready for the seas.
The Fisheries Department had notified the 61-day annual fishing ban from June 1 to July 31 to facilitate fish breeding during the season. The department also issued a strict order banning fishing through mechanised vessels during the ban period, however, registered motorised canoes using gill nets had been exempted.
Contributed by Navin Jha, Asmita Polji, Julio D’Silva and Vrishankh Mahatme
