Team Herald
MARGAO: Farmers cultivating the adjoining fields harvested the Ralloi Tollem at Curtorim today in the first phase netting a bumper catch of local as well as exotic fish and are expecting a similar catch in the second phase, likely next Sunday.
The Ralloi Tollem has not been harvested for the last many years since it underwent a major change with its walls re-constructed with concrete and overall giving it a beautiful look.
This year, being the first since the renovation, the farmers decided to harvest it themselves and did not auction the fishing rights nor have they formed any tenants association.
The farmers informally decided to contribute Rs 2,00,000 towards the maintenance of the lake and accordingly harvested it.
They caught around 4 tonnes of Katla and 1 tonne of Rahu from the exotic fish introduced in the lake. Amongst the local fish they harvested 1.5 tonnes of pitol and 1.5 tonnes of caduam a local fish that is rarely found nowadays.
In fact, there is still a lot of water in the lake and it has been kept deliberately because there is still quite a lot of fish in it which will be harvested probably next Sunday.
The farmers appeared quite organized as they had prepared coupons which were to be purchased first by anybody wanting to purchase the fish and with the coupons the purchaser had to go where the fish was kept to purchase it.
