It’s been months since the LED light row has been going on between the fishermen in the State. The issue is simple, but has led to an acrimonious tussle in the State. Purse seine trawlers used LED lights for night fishing that attracts fish to the light shining in the water and so nets them a bigger catch. This, the ramponkars and traditional fishermen have been opposing. Then in a sudden order, the Fisheries Department banned LED light fishing with immediate effect. While drawing cheers on one side, this decision will also draw equal amounts of censure from the other, as both camps are equally divided.
Those opposing LED lights claimed that these are being used within the territorial waters of the State, that is within 12 nautical miles which is a violation of the Goa Marine Fishing Regulation Act. Their argument is simple, no fishing boat in Goa is registered to operate beyond 12 nautical miles, hence the use of LED lights within this area of the seas is destructive to marine ecology. Their fear was that fishing with LED lights would lead to depletion of marine resources and in turn cause a ‘fish famine’ in the State. They had also raised concerns of extinction of certain species of fish due to this. Their contention is that flashing LED lights attract the mother fish that will lead to decreased breeding and also juvenile fish from shallow waters destroying the breeding grounds and hence the resultant fish famine.
Those involved in LED lights fishing claimed that their methods are safe and there is no scientific study to disprove this. Their contention is that they are not causing any damage to the environment or to the breeding sources, which is therefore not affecting the fishermen using canoes or small boats. Since ramponkars and traditional fishermen are restricted to an area of five nautical miles from the shore, the trawler owners claim their use of LED lights is beyond this area. Their argument is that LED lights fishing is an acceptable technique and that to survive and compete with the trawlers from other States they are forced to resort to LED lights fishing.
After months of not been able to arrive at any conclusion on the LED lights fishing row or even mediate with the warring factions, the government through the Fisheries Department banned LED lights fishing. This is only going to increase the acrimony over the issue. With just about three weeks before the State goes in for the annual fishing ban during the monsoon, the Department of Fisheries could have held off this decision till it met with all parties and understood the issue thoroughly. It had time on its hands, and could have always come up with a temporary solution to the issue, before its final verdict.
In its order, the Fisheries Department says that the ban is to ‘conserve fish and to regulate fishing on a scientific basis’. In this regard, there is one possibility that the government could have looked at to find a possible solution to the issue, rather than an outright ban, and that is limiting the tonnage of the catch. Right now, there is no cap on fishing. Mechanised and non-mechanised boats have the run of the rivers and the seas with nobody keeping tabs on the amount of fish caught or looking at the marine resources available and their replenishment. The only constraint that fishermen face is the annual monsoon ban on fishing, but even this does not lead to a scarcity of fish in the markets as fish comes from other States. Therefore, a cap on fishing could have also been a solution to the issue.
