MARGAO: Fishermen from Salcete are opposing the State government’s proposal of using the 10-acre prawn hatchery land for the shrimp and fin fish hatchery project that would be undertaken on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Given that the fishermen from Benaulim use a small portion of the land of the defunct prawn hatchery to store their canoes and dry their fishing nets, the local fishermen have complained that if the government goes ahead and gives the land to a private player, they will not only be deprived of this storage space, which they have been using for years now, but that there is also no alternate land for them to store their equipment. In the monsoon season in particular, many fishermen use this land to park their canoes and fishing nets.
Fishermen have vowed to oppose the plans of the State government as they believe that there is a hidden agenda to drive the local fishermen out of this part of Benaulim beach, which is an ideal
location for commercial
establishments
Pele Fernandes pointed out that the traditional fishermen have been demanding that the government allot a space of 5,000 square metres in the prawn hatchery land to them to support the traditional occupation. While the Fisheries Department has not responded to their plea, the Niz Ramponkarncho Ekvott (NRE) had also proposed three years ago, a state-of-the-art ‘Fishing Activity Village’ on that land.
NRE had demanded that the government reserve nearly a quarter of the land for a sheltered fishing boat parking area, net drying area, net repair shed, fish drying area, toilets and bathroom for working fishermen, lockers for their clothes, etc.
