Technology arguably may have made the profession and service of fishing lucrative but the battle over use of LED lights has switched off the romance of fishing and the joy of going to sea with simple nets and bringing in the catch, to the delight and merriment of so many.
It is a matter of extreme sadness that the discord among fishermen, which is a brother versus brother fight has come at a time when we are clutching on to the very few activities or institutions, that preserve the spirit of goenkarpon. While the government has made the decision to ban fishing vessels from using LED lights, which raponnkars believe will affect the breeding of fish and reduce their quantity, the deep divide the traditional fishermen and the Purse Seine Trawler owners is breeding extreme discontent among many traditional Goans. With the fishing community at war, the fallout has affected village life, especially in coastal Goa along the banks of the Sal river. Many of the Purse Sine trawler owners were once upon a time traditional fishermen who have modernised. And the divide between those using modern methods and those who prefer the age old method of fishing as it once was, has grown to the point of no return.
While the blame game will continue and will do so, it has spilled over from quiet villages on to the streets of Panjim, because the Fisheries department has allowed the differences to linger till it reached the stage where its hand was forced into banning LED lights on fishing vessels which move beyond 12 nautical miles and into the high seas. The decision, irrespective of whether it is correct or not, was taken only to ward off the growing anger of traditional fishermen who are far more vocal and whose anger may have political ramifications. Thus, when decisions are taken based on the potential political damage that not taking a decision would cause, the basis of decision making gets flawed. Here the government woke up to the fact that months, perhaps years, of avoiding addressing the issue and hoping that the differences would sort themselves out, was getting nowhere. But the government is squarely to blame for its inefficiency in dealing with the issue. The fundamental problem lies in not keeping communication channels open, by ensuring that the section of moderates willing to see both sides are kept in the forefront. The sensitivity to the traditional fishermen’s point of view should have been balanced by hearing the Purse Sine Trawler owners and advising them use technology which does not harm fishing in general.
But this requires constant dialogue and deliberation. It will come as a huge surprise if the Fisheries Minister can give evidence that he had addressed this on war footing by constituting a team of experts to keep communicating with the warring factions as well as take the help of professionals to educate to work out a middle ground which would be acceptable to both sides. As always, the situation has reached to a boil and has landed on the door of a reluctant Chief Minister, who cut short a dialogue with traditional fishermen, smarting after Thursday’s lathi charge and walked off, telling them to speak to the Fisheries minister. But it was the Fisheries minister who sent them to the Chief Minister. Now fishermen cannot be treated like ping pong balls. The Fisheries Minister wouldn’t have been pushed to such a corner where he is now reaching out to the Chief Minister to bail him out, if the dialogue process had continued.
It may be easier said than done in Goa, but there is still a lot to say about old fashioned chats to sort issues out. When that doesn’t happen, then extreme measures are needed by the people to get the attention of those, whose job is to focus on grass-root issues which are this critical. And this is what happened in Panjm when traditional fishermen resorted to blocking the road and abusing policemen.
For now, raponnkars must be take into confidence and told that the ban on LED lights will be implemented, but at the same time, a solution has to be found for those who have invested in technology for the betterment of their futures.
