MARGAO: Alleging harassment by the coastal police and Navy, traditional ramponkars on Tuesday criticised the State government for not providing the coastal police with the requisite infrastructure to help them nab fishing trawlers coming from neighbouring States into Goan waters which are causing severe damage to marine life here.
The traditional ramponkars said the biggest damage is done by illegal trawlers at sea, especially those coming from outside States and that this should be the main priority of the authorities.
“The fact that a trawler was caught with LED lights confirms what we have been saying all this time. They are checking these boats after they have returned to the jetty. This means these boats had these lights before they went to the sea and the damage was already done. By using LED lights, they destroy even the nursing grounds of several species of fish and marine ecology as well. This destruction is long-lasting and extremely harmful,” said Rohidas Chari, a local fisherman.
“What upsets us the most is that we are harassed by the coastal police and even the Navy who threaten us when we go out to the sea during the season! This happens when we don’t do anything wrong. But it looks like this strict scrutiny is just for us traditional fishermen and not the big trawler owners. The fisheries department should cancel the licenses of the trawlers that are found violating the fishing ban and other orders,” said Joaquim Fernandes, another traditional fisherman.
Olencio Simoes, general secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) accused the State Fisheries Department of deliberately going soft on local trawler owners who have been using high-powered engines and big-sized trawlers that exceed permissible limits and allegedly use illegal gears to catch fish in the territorial waters of the State as well as the Indian Exclusive Zone (EEZ). He lamented that there is no precedent in place given that for years continuously now, trawler owners have been indulging in illegal activity, be it bull or pair trawling or using LED light equipment and showing no fear of the law.
“There is also a need for the Fisheries Department of Goa to hold meetings with their counterparts in Maharashtra and Karnataka too. We have heard that our Goan trawlers also sometimes enter the territorial waters of our neighbouring States, which undermines our efforts to stop the entry of non-Goan boats into our waters,” said Paul Remedios, a ramponkar.
“There are many fishermen who have given up this line of work as not only are we facing a disadvantage, we do not get the support we need. In the future, the government has to take more steps to instil confidence in the traditional fishing community that our interests and livelihoods will be protected. Traditional fishermen and trawlers have to co-exist also so there should be a dialogue between the two groups for the overall good of the State,” added Vipul Naik, another traditional fisherman.
Incidentally, officials from the Betul Coastal police emphasised that they have been monitoring the jetties all the time and that police personnel are deployed for the same. Betul Coastal police also added that they do patrol with boats from the fisheries department and coast guard.
They further referred to the steps taken by the Fisheries Minister to deploy a dedicated police team to check trawlers for any illegalities at fishing jetties and the recent action taken of confiscating boats with LED lights and being at sea during the fishing ban period.
