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Goa: Fish traders must register with fisheries department

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Fisheries minister Nilkant Halarnkar said that the government has been losing revenue as barring one or two fish traders, none of the others have registered themselves with the fisheries department.
“It is for this reason we had sealed the jetties at Malim, Vasco and Cutbona,” Halarnkar told reporters on Tuesday.

He was speaking following a meeting with the various chairmen of fisheries cooperative societies and fishing traders on Tuesday at the secretariatto discuss the issue of registration. “The government is prepared to provide complete support to the trawler owners. However, they have to give a certain amount annually against their registration as fish traders. For years, we have let them operate without the registration and its fee. However, it is about time that they fall in line owing to which we issued a notification in 2020 to get them registered,” he said.

He said the stakeholders will decide on the modalities along with the fisheries department and decide on the annual payment. Officially, there are no fish traders registered with the department, he said. Traders are the ones who take the fish brought in by the trawlers at the jetty, he explained.

TOI had earlier reported that the directorate of fisheries temporarily locked the gates to the fishing jetties at Malim, Vasco and Cutbona on October 19 and denied movement of fish from the respective premises in a bid to crackdown on unregistered fish traders. He acknowledged that fish traders were upset with the gate-sealing last week. However, he maintained that fishing activities need to be sustainable. “Even to implement central government schemes, it is imperative that the traders are registered,” he said.

Fish are a natural resource and there should be some sort of regulation in its operations. CCTV cameras will therefore be set up at jetties to monitor the various activities there, said the fisheries minister

He also spoke about the potential of fisheries in Goa, and said that plans to build necessary infrastructure. Fish owners and trawler owners have sought relaxation in Rs one lakh annual trading fees charged by the department.