MARGAO
Perhaps for the first time in recent years, almost all the fishing boats operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty has dropped anchor before the fishing season could end.
Fishing boats are anchored in river Sal, while one can see fishing nets unloaded along the jetty and covered with tarpaulin. There’s hardly any movement of migrant manpower too at the jetty.
The reasons are not far too seek. While the Covid surge had prompted many a boat owners to shut operations and send their manpower back home, Cyclone Tauktae only made matters worse for the boat owners. With poor or no catch post-cyclone and the risk involved in operations in view of the Covid second wave, almost all the boat owners have decided to drop anchor before the ban on fishing could come into effect on June 1.
Sources said most of the boat owners have sent their outstation migrant crew back home. It is learnt that a couple of boat owners have engaged private buses to drop them home in their native states of Jharkhand, Odisha, etc.
Former Cutbona Boat Owners Union Cypriano Cardozo informed that almost all the fishing vessels have dropped anchor at the Cutbona jetty. “There may be one or two small vessels which go out in the sea and return back the same day. But, the purse seine and big fishing boats have all wound up operations and have dropped anchor”, Cypriano said.
He attributed the Covid scenario followed by Cyclone Tauktae for dropping of anchors early this year. “While 50 per cent of the fishing boats had dropped anchors even before the cyclone could hit Goa because of Covid, poor or no catch post-cyclone has prompted the boat owners end the season prematurely”, he added.
Ex-president of Cutbona Boat Owners Union Savio D’Silva expressed similar sentiments. He said almost all the fishing boats have dropped anchor at the Cutbona jetty this year. “Those vessels which are operating from Cutbona have dropped anchor. I have no information about vessels at other sites”, he said.
He added: “A couple of fishing boats that had ventured out in the sea post-cyclone have all returned back without any catch. The owners then decided to wind up operations and send the manpower back home”.
