Cuncolim: The Directorate of Fisheries has sent 13 fishermen from Betul and Cutbona to Surat, Gujarat, to study the state’s fishing industry. However, the timing of the tour has raised the eyebrows of many locals, who claim that the tour was organised with malafide intentions.
As part of the tour, the fishermen will learn about jetty maintenance, shipping, fish loading, and auctioning and modern fishing technology.
They will also visit cooperative fishing societies and study their functioning. Four Fisheries Department officials are accompanying the group.
Fisheries Department sources have stated that this tour had been planned long back and earlier, two groups from North Goa had gone to Kerala and Chennai.
Meanwhile, the timing of this tour has raised the eyebrows of many locals, including boat owners.
Some have claimed that government wants to prevent fishermen from joining the agitation on the LED light issue. Others have claimed that the Fisheries Department wanted to extend the Cutbona Jetty, and to divide the group opposition the expansion, it had sent some fishermen on the tour.
Some locals have claimed that the tour was organised to break up the opposition to the Defence Expo, which will be held in Betul.
However, the Fisheries Department has called these allegations as “rubbish”.
