Labour dearth has fishing vessels drop anchor
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, AUG 17
The writing on the wall is clear. Goa’s total dependence on migrant labour for mechanized fishing has begun to hit hard the industry, so it seems.
It’s more than a fortnight since the new fishing season began on August 1, but dozens of fishing vessels lay anchored at the fishing jetties for want of manpower.
While many vessels netted the prized solar shrimp this season, absence of manpower forced many boat owners to drop anchors at the jetties.
Migrant labourers working as kalashis aboard the vessels are yet to report at the jetties till date. In fact, boat owners are still making trips to distant Orissa and Jharkhand, hoping against hope to lay their hands on a couple of workers, badly required to operate the vessels.
Says Executive Member of the Cutbona Boat Owners Union, Elvis Gomes: “My fishing boat could not venture out in the sea till date for want of manpower. This year, many boat owners really faced trouble on the labour front”.
Like many other boat owner, Gomes traveled all the way to Orissa in search of workers, who had promised to return back to the jetties, but played truant this season.
Sources in the know attribute the hesitation by the migrant workers to work on fishing vessels to last year’s cyclone, which claimed many lives in the Arabian Sea..
Gomes suggested government intervention in the matter by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the respective governments for recruitment on board the fishing vessels.
Director of Fisheries, S C Verencar says the department is aware of the problem that has hit the fishing industry. “According to my information, nearly 40 per cent of the fishing vessels remain idle at the jetties for want of manpower. This is indeed a serious matter”, he said. “I am given to understand that suggestions are made in certain quarters about the intervention of the government. Till date, no one has approached the department to consider the suggestions”, Verencar said.
Inquiries have revealed that nearly 60 per cent of the fishing vessels in Vasco and 40 per cent at the Cutbona are awaiting the arrival of manpower to venture out in the sea.
When contacted, Fisheries Minister, Joaquim Alemao admitted that manpower shortage has hit the mechanized fishing industry at the beginning of the new season. He, however, wondered what role the government can play in the matter when the issue concerns the boat owners and the workers. “I do not see any role for the government in this matter. But still, let us wait for the suggestions from the boat owners”, Alemao added.
