Fish is without a doubt a very important aspect of Goan cuisine. It is consumed with great relish everyday in the Goan household. Fishmongers are never short of business in the local market. Since consuming fish is so popular in the state, activities around the fish have increased in popularity. It is not unusual to come across young men and some older gentleman casting their lines along the Goan coastline waiting for that tug.
Angling has increasingly become popular in the state. It is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or “angle” attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining or longlinging also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The hook itself can be additionally weighted with a dense tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract the fish and entice it into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake bait with multiple attached hooks (known as a lure) is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. A bite indicator, such as a float, a bell or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface.
For several Goans angling is a hobby that has taken over their life. It gives balance to their lives. For Nasir Shaik, who run a shop in Vasco catering to the various requirements of the angling community in the state was of the opinion the popularity was because it was just tradition. Nasir said, “Earlier, we had bamboo sticks and now we have sophisticated fishing rods. I started off with bamboo sticks in my childhood. I went fishing to places like Chicalim. Today my only passion in life is angling. I have a store in Vasco Da Gama. I started importing fishing tackle into India in 1998. People did not know much but the potential for the business was there for all to see. Filipino sailors used squid fishing jigs and showed the locals. Locals who worked abroad were aware of these fishing hardware and started buying them. Today the market has exploded. I am willing to predict that in two years, fishing tackle in India will be the cheapest in the world. This is all due to the intense competition in this market”. He concluded by saying angling in Goa had a long history with families going out on angling expeditions. It was after all as he put it made one very close with nature.
The hold an activity like angling can hold over an individual is clearly visible in someone like Marvel Coelho. His first tryst with angling was when he was a wee lad of five. Today he is fifty and still passionately in love with angling. He said, “My father used to go fishing and I used to accompany him. I learned patience, the importance of waiting. The fish does not operate as per your schedule. Today I spent quite a bit of money buying fishing rods. Recently I picked up two rods from Belgium when I had gone over on a holiday. I intend to angle till the day I die. It gives me a great deal of joy and satisfaction”.
Long time passionate angler Elviro Fernandes, who started fishing when he was six at the river behind his house. His aunt used to take him there. It fuelled his interest in fishing. He started learning about the various species of fish and their disposition. This he felt would help him snag them on his line. This urge to learn has helped him, he smiled and said and now he was catching the big fishes. Now 31, he has been a passionate angler for 25 years. Asked if anglers had to pay anything to do what they loved, he said there was absolutely nothing that had to be paid. When asked how much he had spent on his tackle, he said, “When one starts going down this road, there is no limit as to how much one can spend. It can be in thousands and even go into lakhs for really top rate equipment”.
The surge in business can be gauged by the fact that he handles the requirements of anywhere between ten to fifteen customers at the tackle shop he works in. Like anyone who loves what he is doing, he does two to three fishing trips every week at night near Siolim. Angling has changed him as a person. The attraction of angling for Elviro was the opportunity to get away the stress of everyday life, to be able to go to a place and enjoy ones passion alone in silence. It has helped him become a patient person. He laughed and said,” I never lose my temper”.
This activity attracts people across classes. Joscen Miranda has been angling for ten years and it is a hobby that he does with friends. When he was working in Goa at the hotel, he had free time in the evening and he would go angling behind the shipyard. He has a group in Vasco and goes every Sunday on the boats. He said it was not sport angling but trawling. They would catch some pretty big fish. Having knowledge of the tides is very important. Angling, he said, was like photography and it was an expensive hobby.
So far angling may have been allowed to continue without any fees but a notification issued by the Fisheries Department will bring in all types of fishing activity, including leisure fishing under its control. Anglers expressed their concern but felt angling would continue to grow in the state.
