Team Herald
MARGAO: The recent notification issued by the Fisheries Department that seeks to bring all types of fishing activity, including leisure fishing under its control has received mixed reactions.
As per the notification, there are fresh rules, titled, the Goa Marine Fishing Regulation (Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2023 under which all nature of fishing, including fishing with line-and-hook for sport fishing, entails registration of equipment with a payment of a fee.
The Fisheries Department has also revised the fees for grant and renewal of licences of fishing vessels, fishing nets and other fishing gears through these rules. It has upset many Goans for whom fishing has been a hobby and now they can be fined if they fail to register their fishing equipment.
For those who don’t comply, they face the risk of inviting penal action against them and having their equipment and catch confiscated.
As per the notification, the rule also applies to individual fishers using cast nets and fishing with traps to catch fish, prawns, lobsters and crabs. The registration fee to fish with a set of hooks, irrespective of number of hooks, is Rs 200. For fishing with hook and line for sport fishing, registration fee is Rs 500 and licence fee is Rs 250, while for longlines it costs Rs 800 for registering and Rs 400 for the licence.
It is around Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for registering other equipment such as sluice-gate nets, stake nets, barrier nets and drag nets.
The fees for fishing vessels are based on Overall Length (OAL) and vary from Rs 500 for vessels up to 7.91 metre to Rs 5,000 for the sports fishing vessel below 20 metre.
Various associations representing traditional fishermen said they will study the matter and write to Fisheries Departments with their view, they are happy that there will be data on all those who go out fishing across the State. They however are not pleased with the increase in rates and feel that at the end the benefits are not being transferred to the fishing community who are in need of infrastructure support on various fronts to help them sustain their business and support their families.
On the other hand, Goans who have for years who have fished for years, be it in the rivers or near the beaches, are upset that what has been a traditional activity for generations is being regulated in such a way.
“The idea that we will get fined for doing what we have been doing for years is hard to digest as this is something we do on our holidays and with friends and this is not something that we should be worried about,” Leslie Fernandes from Benaulim.
Others felt that with the government having nationalised the rivers and wanting to privatise jetties, this is a move to restrict the locals from carrying out traditional fishing activities.
“There appears to be a hidden plan behind this. They will tomorrow say oh you cannot fish here or there. This is our right. For us it is our pastime but for those whose livelihoods depend on this, this could be another means of harassment,” added Chirag Naik from Cuncolim.
