Trawler owners demand fish mill at Cutbona jetty
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MAY 1
There’s a bumper harvest of sardines these days with fishing vessels netting tones of the fish close to the Goan shores.
But, trawler owners operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty appears an unhappy lot, as they are unable to exploit the bumper catch by dispatching the entire catch across the border to the fish mill at Kundapur in Karnataka due to the water spillage by the fish transporting trucks.
This situation has forced the boat owners to demand the setting up of a fish mill at the Cutbona fishing jetty.
While fishing vessels have been heading to deep sea off Maharashtra and Karnataka coast, the situation has changed in the last few days with sardines available in plenty off the Goa coast.
Says a trawler owner, Elvis Gomes: “The fishing vessels have been reporting big time landing because of the presence of fish close to the Goan shore. But, the problem of transportation the catch has affected us in a big way”.
He said the fishing boats even remained idle for two days as the catch brought by the vessels could not be transported by trucks on time.
President of Cutbona Boat Owners Union Patrick D’Silva said though sardines have been netted in huge quantities, the boat owners have not benefited the most due to people stopping fish transporting truck due to the problem of fish spillage.
He said the fishing vessels could not venture out in the sea in the last two days as they could not dispose off the catch netted early this week.
Making a strong case for the setting up of a fish mill at the Cutbona jetty, he said the transportation problem can be overcome by the setting up of a fish mill. “The government says Cutbona jetty as a major fishing hub. The time has come to set up the fish mill facility”, he said.
Another trawler owner Atush Fernandes said the trawler owners are denied the facility of drying fish on the neighbouring hillock and strongly demanded a fish mill plant at the jetty to solve the water spillage problem.
