TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Moderate catch of the prized solar shrimp was reported at the Cutbona fishing jetty as mechanised fishing vessels operating from the jetty ventured out in the sea for the first time this season on Sunday.
Around 130 fishing boats which had ventured out in the sea after negotiating the hostile navigation problems at the river Sal mouth at Betul returned to the Cutbona jetty this evening with moderate catch of solar shrimps.
While some of the boats reported a catch between one and 1.5 ton of the shrimps, many others returned to the jetty with a moderate catch between 500-800 kilograms. Boat owners said that the sea was still rough and the catch of the shrimp would depend on the weather conditions.
It is learnt that around 20 fishing vessels reported damage of the fishing net while fishing on Sunday.
A kilogram of solar shrimp fetched a price Rs 130 in the wholesale market at the jetty. Fish wholesale merchants engaged in the business of buying solar shrimps wholesale informed that the jetties of Vasco and Cutbona reported a catch of over 60 tons of the prized shrimps.
Sources in the know say solar shrimps command a huge price since there’s been less catch of the shrimp off the Kerala coast this year. It is learnt that bad weather had played spoil sport to the shrimp catch in Kerala, pushing the price of the shrimps this season.
Most of the shrimp catch that has landed at the fishing jetties of Vasco and Cutbona has found its way to the factories in Kerala, which after processing will be exported to countries of the Far East, including Japan.
