On May 31, when the clock strikes midnight, the 61-day fishing ban will come into force along Goa’s 105 km-long coastline. More than 1,500 trawlers will pull their nets out of the state’s territorial waters for the period. The ban, which is applicable from June 1 to July 31, has been enforced since 1981. For two years in 2002 and 2003 it was extended to 75 days, but was later withdrawn by the government. Director of fisheries department Vinesh Arlenkar said the annual notification has been published in the official gazette. As per the notification, motorised canoes with outboard motor capacity of 10 HP have been exempted from the ban and are allowed to venture into the sea, but at their own peril. The two main objectives of the fishing ban in Goa are to allow several species of fish to spawn during and to prevent fishermen from risking their lives in the choppy monsoon seas. A visit to the Cutbona fishing jetty at Betul found many trawler owners winding up business and either transporting nets home or stacking them at the jetty. A few others, however, were seen venturing out to sea. Hector D’Costa, who was unloading a catch of mackerelssaid that the extension of the jetty proved very helpful for fishermen, but the sandbar near the mouth of the river posed problems. During low tide trawlers cannot come to the jetty, he said. President of Cutbona Boat Owners Development Union Savio D’Silva said the season was average. D’Silva was very critical of the fisheries department and said that since the extended jetty was yet to be commissioned only scrap boats are tied there. Arlenkar refuted D’Silva’s claims and said that the extended jetty is operational and that the department has been cleaning it. Currently, the fisheries department is trying to outsource the jetty, Arlenkar said.
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