Union Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh's ambitious plans to boost fish production in the state are welcome, and so is the promised Central investment of Rs 400 crore to make Goa a fisheries hub. On paper, there are grandiose plans laid out to develop 30 new landing centres for fisheries. The extensive cage culture proposal also could herald a new beginning, but there are worries and concerns in the background that have to be addressed.
Giriraj revealed that the issue was discussed with The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute which is known for its scientific methodologies for estimating marine fish landings in the country. The research wing has certified that 72 sq km area of Goa's coast could be brought under cage culture with an installation capacity of around 30 lakh cages. The question is, where does this leave the traditional fishermen whose livelihoods are dependent on localized fishing? Have stakeholders been consulted in this ambitious roadmap to ramp up fishing in the State? And who are the actual beneficiaries?If we may recall, cage culture was experimented sporadically in 2012-17 during the tenure of then Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado and it achieved a fair level of success in terms of fish catch. However, the project was shelved subsequently by Vinod Palyekar during his regime midway in 2017. The State government has to explain why it dropped cage culture if it reaped benefits for the local fishermen. Goa's landscape is distinctly different where traditional occupations have survived in tandem and which is why any large scale development that is envisaged has to factor in the local interests.
Goa's fishing sector has been crippled due to the pandemic and has suffered a loss running into crores of rupees. However, as much as it is about the development of the fisheries section, it has to be also about making fish affordable to the common man. Giriraj's solemn visit to the state sounds encouraging, but the Union minister needs to wade through a lot of other issues that are grappling the fishing industry in Goa, rather than attempting to cushion the worries of exporters and big-timers.
Why is there no word spoken on better storage facilities at jetties which could go a long way in stabilizing fish supplies during off-season times? Why is that despite the bumper crop of fish that Goa has seen in recent times, the fish prices continue to escalate beyond the reach of citizens?
Development of State-of-the-art wholesale fish market with an investment of Rs 50 crore is a welcome idea, but what happened to the State-of-the-art food-testing facility that was promised in 2018 after the infamous formalin-laced fish incident made international headlines?
The Centre has also decided to develop a fishing harbour in ‘Vasco Bay’. But, can the State government explain why the proposal of a fishing jetty in Vasco never materialized for years now? There are about 300 fishing boats and 1200 fishermen operating at the existing Vasco jetty in literally chaotic conditions, but nobody cared till now. Why?
The Union minister's headline-grabbing Rs 400 crore promise appears soothing to the Goan ears, but against the grim ground situations coupled with the failed past assurances, we can only keep our fingers crossed.
