It would be better that government fix reasonable prices for all types of fish and compensate the trawler owners. Government should also draft a plan and do a study on the number of trawlers required for our coastal waters, and have a control over granting new licenses. Produce is less in the sea and fish catchers are more which leads to increase in prices. Since the fish stock is depleting, the fishing ban period should also be increased to 3 months so that breeding cycle is properly completed and the produce is in abundance.
Goa is blessed with coastal sea, rivers, tributaries, lakes, (agors, manxeo) and other small or large water bodies where we get salt water fish and sweet water fish. Supplies from both are in decline. Our government invest money in maintaining inland water bodies and give them on a yearly contract and charge fees which will benefit both the people and the government.
If you look back for the past 20 to 25 years, Goa was a very beautiful with green fields, lakes, rivers etc. and now we can see the fields deserted, water bodies are filled with silt and to add to this filth and garbage are seen strewn everywhere.
Our ancestors had planned the urban areas intelligently by making fields, high lands, narrow footpaths inter connecting each field and a narrow opening and small walk bridges across the footpaths to pass rain water. All the farmers could get access to their respective fields without any trouble. They build overbridges on roads passing through the fields and a narrow canals were connected to the field and the stream through the highland so that the rain water from hills gets collected in surrounding lakes, the water from fields is drained through overbridges to narrow canals and then to the small rivulet. Since the rivulets are connected to tributaries and rivers during rainy season fish used to come into the fields, lakes, (agors, manxeo) and other water bodies. Once the rainy season was over we used to get fish from this water bodies such as tonak, gobro, white shrimps, tiger prawns, khorsandeo, cat fish, tigur, crabs, shetkam, calundoram, banshirim and so on for almost 2 months.
Can we see these fish now, yes, very little and some species of fish are on the verge of extinction. Let us not destroy the creation of our ancestors, lets maintain it for our future generations.
