Team Herald
PANJIM: Goans may soon get some relief from the high price of fish, as Fisheries Minister Vinod Paliencar on Friday asked Fisheries Department officials to work out modalities to form a fisheries corporation to provide fish at subsidised rates.
Addressing the media, Paliencar said, “Fish, curry, rice is the staple diet of Goans. Our election manifesto said that fish would be subsidised and therefore the government has decided to constitute a Goa Fisheries Corporation Limited (GFCL) which will regulate the sale of subsidised fish.”
“The idea was to set up fish stalls alongside the vegetable kiosks managed by Goa Horticulture Corporation Limited (GHCL). But there are some people who are pure vegetarian and therefore would not allow fish being sold near the vegetable stall,” said Paliencar.
The Minister said the ban on fishing during the monsoon period, between June 1 and July 31, would be strictly monitored. He added that the department will impose uni-colour coding for trawlers, helping law enforcement agencies and that the government has made it mandatory for trawlers to install GPS tracking chips for security of the fishermen. He said 35 trawlers would be allowed to be replaced every year with the new vessel on first-cum-first-serve basis.
