Members of the fishing community in Goa have reacted to the whopping Rs 400 crore earmarked for the state. While some have welcomed the generous fund, others are doubtful of benefiting from it. Union fisheries minister Giriraj Singh, during his visit to Goa on Sunday, had announced the investment of Rs 400 crore to make the coastal state a fisheries hub. “In the past, hundreds of crores have been promised under the Blue Revolution and we are still waiting for it. Even the new jetty, which was promised seven years ago, not even 20% has not been completed,” president of the All Goa Purse Seine Boat Owners’ Association, Harshad Dhond said. He said that the need of the hour is infrastructure development at the existing jetties.
“At Malim jetty, we lack proper infrastructure. The land may belong to the fisheries department, but all the maintenance work is done by the Mandovi Fisheries Cooperative Society,” Dhond said, adding that they still hope to benefit from the new investment. Chairperson of the Cutbona Fisheries Cooperative Society, Vinay Tari said that they were not even informed about the Union minister’s interaction with fishermen. “We still don’t know which fishermen met with him and what issues were presented that day. We would have also wanted a representation with the minister to demand intervention at the mouth at the Sal,” he said.
Currently, the navigation of the river mouth is hindered, which, Tari said, can lead to a lot of lives and livelihoods being lost in case of a casualty. “The idea of converting mining pits for cage culture is good, but there are existing problems in Goa that require to be resolved,” he added. Traditional fishermen, whose livelihoods are dependent on localised fishing, pointed out that the investment appears to be more in favour of exporters and large fishing vessel operators. Ronnie Fernandes, a traditional fisherman, said that cage culture fisheries will lead to the slow death of small boat operators. “The bull trawlers will only engage in catching fish for exports, but as traditional fishermen, we catch what locals consume. Shouldn’t safeguarding our trade be prioritised? The state government must ensure that the existing schemes’ subsidy reaches us before promising to make Goa a fisheries hub,” said Ozer Mendes, a member of the Goenchea Ramponkaranchem Ekvott.
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