Even as monsoon rains bring Goa’s sea fishing to a seasonal standstill, locals continue to find inventive ways to keep their plates filled with fresh seafood. From traps and nets to age-old harvesting practices, generations of Goans have relied on traditional methods to meet their fish cravings during the rainy season.
“In May, when the freshwater ponds and lakes are harvested, children and adults rush to buy fish,” recalls Agnelo Andrade of Ambajim, Margão. “Some is cooked the same day, some is preserved as molho, while live fish are kept in large copper pots—bhann—and taken out as needed.”
As a child in the 1970s, Andrade remembers heading to Margão’s old market (Mercádo de Vásco da Gama) to buy bullfrogs sold in jute sacks by local youth who caught them overnight. The start of the rains would see children flocking to freshly ploughed paddy fields to collect field snails (kongé) and crabs, later cooked or stored in bamboo baskets.
Late nights or early mornings during the first rains were a highlight for village boys. Groups would set out with kerosene lanterns or fire torches to catch fish, frogs, and crabs—an approach known as Dhipkavnnni, which uses light to lure prey.
Piedade Miranda from Fatorda shared other creative techniques. “For small streams (vall/voll), we used the kuddu, a bamboo basket with one closed conical end and a wide opening,” he said. The trap was set against the water’s flow and the sides blocked with twigs. Fish swam in but couldn’t escape, and the basket was lifted out with the catch.
In paddy fields, locals sometimes scattered fish food, then quickly covered gathering fish with bamboo baskets. Wide-mouthed baskets were also plunged into ponds to scoop up whatever could be caught.
Fishing with hooks remains popular. Poller uses nylon lines with multiple hooks and large bait like prawns to target bigger fish, while Gorovop uses a simple rod and line. Today, modern rods have largely replaced traditional bamboo poles.
Other methods include Khutavanni, or stake fishing, where nets are tied between wooden poles along riverbanks. The nets are lifted at low tide to harvest fish like chonak (sea bass) and dodiyare (croaker).
Agostinho Coelho from Cortalim recounted catching choddnechem nuste—catfish that swim up onto land with flowing rainwater. “We’d go out in pouring rain with knives or spears to strike them. You had to start with the last fish, or the whole school would scatter,” he explained.
Barrier net fishing (kanni marop or zalli marop) is another traditional approach. Two people hold a net stretched between bamboo poles and walk through shallow waters, while larger nets for deeper ponds require more hands. Semi-circular nets (zalli) are often used to catch prawns in muddy shallows.
Kaantalli or cast net fishing involves spreading a 300-meter-long net equipped with mango wood floats so it falls vertically over water. Smaller single-person nets (paguer/paguel) serve the same purpose on a smaller scale.
Crab catching, essential for making beloved crab curries (xec xec), uses the Cobulem, a net attached to a circular metal frame set along riverbanks. A string leads to shore, and any movement signals a catch. Bamboo kuddu traps and bait like cattle waste are also used.
Clams are gathered by divers searching the riverbed by hand, while oysters are dug from seashores and riverbanks.
Together, these traditional monsoon practices keep Goa’s rich culinary heritage alive—and ensure that, come rain or shine, Goans never compromise on their seafood.