Even ten days after the annual fishing season began, the directorate of fisheries has not been able to issue many fishing passes to trawler owners to venture into the sea. This is mainly due to the rough weather over the past week which has kept most trawlers anchored, besides the lack of labour force to carry out the operations, an official from the fisheries department said. Only about 10% of the total labour force involved in fisheries is currently in Goa to carry out fishing activities. SOPs have already been released on how to carry out the operations and we have fisheries officers, police personnel and coast guards posted at jetties to ensure that the guidelines are followed, an official from the fisheries department said. For now, only small canoes have been fishing as and when it is possible. The trawler owners are plagued with hurdles in carrying out the operations. Francis D’Souza, a trawler owner from Malim jetty said that none of the trawlers or purse-seine boats from the jetty have ventured into the sea since the season commenced on August 1. The maintenance of a single vessel costs anywhere between Rs 80,000-90,000 per month, he said. The boat owners are yet to take a decision on whether or not we must resume operations in the face of rising Covid-19 cases in Goa. Even a single case could result in the jetty being sealed; it is too risky for us to start full-fledged operations. We may have to wait until September to arrive at a decision, D’Souza said. In some cases, the labour force has started arriving into the state by road travel. However, the operations have been halted due to the rough weather. As a result, not a single vessel has ventured into the waters at the Cutbona jetty, president of the association, Savio D’Silva said. About 40 people arrived at Cutbona from Odisha on Monday. On smaller boats, we can resume operations with about 50% of the labour force once the weather improves, he said. Cruz Cardoso, a boat owner from Vasco said that his crew has arrived on Monday from Karnataka. Maximum operations are currently shut at the Vasco jetty since the sea is rough. We are readying ourselves to start operations as soon as the entire crew arrives. he said.