With hazardous conditions at the mouth of the River Sal continuing to hinder navigation, fisher men and boat owners at Cutbona earlier this week held special prayers seek ing divine intervention for a safe and successful fishing season. A priest blessed fishing vessels, the River Sal chan nel and members of the fishing community at the river mouth, where prayers were offered for the safety of fishermen navigating the treacherous stretch. The prayers came as mechanised fishing vessels and motorised canoes oper ating from the Cutbona fish ing jetty remained largely stranded despite the com mencement of the fishing season.
Boat owners said dangerous sandbar forma tions and rough sea condi tions continued to obstruct the safe movement of vessels in and out of the harbour. South Goa Mechanised Boat Owners Association Chairman Antonio Fer nandes said 15 to 20 mech anised fishing vessels had been ready to sail since the season opened, but unsafe conditions had prevented them from venturing into the sea. Fernandes said it was cus tomary to celebrate a Holy Mass before the fishing sea son, but this year the priest was also invited to bless the River Sal mouth because sandbars and heavy waves had blocked the navigation channel.
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He added that fish ermen have been demanding a training wall at the river mouth for the past 45 years and noted that work initiat ed in 2017 was later stalled following a challenge before the National Green Tribunal. Cutbona Fisheries Society Chairman Savio D’Silva also called for the early execution of the long-pending training wall project, saying the re curring navigation problems should serve as a wake-up call for the authorities. However, boat owners re ported a slight improvement in conditions later in the week, with around 10 fishing vessels finally venturing out to sea from the Cutbona jetty
