Boat owners, fishermen want preference in wholesale market

MARGAO, MAY 10  
Local boat owners and traditional fishermen are bracing up for a full-scale battle to control Goa’s only fish market in the Commercial Capital, as they feel deprived of the benefits of the fish trade due to the large presence of fish merchants  importing fish from outside the state.
That the boat owners and the fishermen are making a determined bid to enjoy preference over others in the battle to control lucrative fish trade has become evident with the Cutbona boat owners approaching the powers that be to make a strong case in support of its demand.
Monday saw a delegation of the boat owners calling on GPCC president Vijay Sardessai and demanding that preference be given to the local fishermen and the boat owners. Executive member of the Cutbona Boat Owners Union Elvis Gomes informed that they have briefed Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho, who is the Chairman of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority as the wholesale market is owned by the planning body.
Gomes told Herald that the boat owners or the traditional fishermen are against the presence of fish agents importing fish from outside at the wholesale fish market. He, however, made it quite clear that the wholesale fish activity goes against the local boat owners and the traditional fishermen due to the import of fish from outside Goa.
‘What we are demanding is that local boat owners and traditional fishermen including Ramponkars gets preference over the sale of fish. Presently, fish from outside the state arrives at the wholesale fish market in the wee hours, from 3 am onwards, while fish netted by the local boat owners and traditional fishermen comes only after 7 am. This adversely affects our business interests in the market which was built for the locals involved in the trade”, Gomes asserted.
The decision to launch a battle to control the wholesale fish market was taken by the newly-elected committee of the Cutbona Boat Owners Union, who felt that the local boat owners and the traditional fishermen be allowed to sell fish in the market till 7 am before allowing the sale of fish imported from outside.
The boat owners and fishermen now plan to call on the Fisheries Minister Joaquim Alemao and other Congress and other political leaders in support of their demand.
The Wholesale Fish Market in the Commercial Capital caters to fish requirements of Goa whether during the season or off season. During the monsoon, the fish merchants import fish from the country’s east coast, particularly Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in view of fishing ban along the entire west coast.