MARGAO: Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar has assured that the Fisheries Department will ensure that the issue of LED lights on trawlers will be addressed at the earliest.
“The staff from the department had carried out unannounced inspections to see if any trawlers were carrying LED lights. We will continue to hold such inspections in the future”, he said.
“The department will not permit illegal fishing activities,” said Halarnkar.
The minister further pointed out that despite the fishing ban, wherein the trawler owners cannot venture out into the sea, the department has received several complaints from the traditional fishing community about the use of illegal devices on big trawlers.
He also touched upon the issue of alleged formalin in fish brought into Goa and said this is being looked into by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) as the Fisheries Department does not have the mechanism to test the same.
