MARGAO
The storm brewing across the fishing jetties seemed to have calmed down for the moment after the Fisheries Department kept its unprecedented decision to bar fish traders operating without registration from the jetties on hold pending a crucial meeting with the stakeholders next week.
Fisheries Department’s decision to levy fees amounting to Rs 2 lakh per season on the fish traders and introduction of fees on the boat owners has indeed brought the boat owners and the Fisheries officials face to face.
Boat owners operating from the jetties in South Goa, including Cutbona and Vasco are vehemently opposed to the Fisheries Department’s move to levy fees on the fish traders and the boat owners. While they oppose the fees on the fish traders on grounds that the decision will only end up creating a monopoly of a few at the jetties, they have questioned the decision to bring the boat owners under the fee structure when fishing along with agriculture is considered a primary activity.
Fisheries officials, on the other hand, in private contended that the prescribed fees on agents and boat owners are being enforced to mop up revenue for the Fisheries Department.
Cutbona Fisheries Society Chairman, Vinay Tari, however, has begged to differ. “How can the Fisheries Department levy fees on the boat owners, who are traditional fishermen, when the activity falls in the primary activity category? If the boat owners and the fishermen do not take the fish caught from the jetties to the markets, the catch will rot,” Tari said.
He added: “As far as imposition of the fees on the traders is concerned, we are opposing the same for the reason that it would only create a monopoly of a few in the fish business, who will, in turn, dictate terms at the jetties.”
Tari said the boat owners have suggested that the Fisheries Department levy a fee on the vehicles every time they transport fish from the jetties. “This should serve the purpose of the department in getting revenue and also ensure level playing fields for the new players in the fish business,” he added.
On the revenue aspect, Tari said the boat owners are directly and indirectly contributing crores of rupees in taxes to the central and State kitty. “The Cutbona jetty itself consumes fuel worth around Rs 100 crore, thus contributing huge taxes to the government,” he added.
President of Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association, Jose Philip D’Souza has slammed the move to bring boat owners under the tax net. “How can the Fisheries Department impose fees on fishermen when they are the primary producers? The government should understand that boat owners and fishermen are not fish traders, but primary producers of fish,” he said.
Jose Philip said the Fisheries Department should first develop a modern fishing jetty at Vasco before thinking of imposing fees on the boat owners and the traders.
As the standoff between the department and the boat owners continues, all eyes are now focused on the October 25 meeting between the two sides.
Boat owners say paying annual fees to govt, but claim no adequate facilities provided at jetty
MARGAO: Is the Fisheries Department giving the fish traders and the agents anything in return at the Cutbona fishing jetty in lieu of the payment of the annual fees to the government?
This was the common refrain amongst the fish agents and the boat owners after the Fisheries Department barred the fish traders from transporting fish without registration and payment of the prescribed fees amounting to Rs 2 lakh per trader.
A trader operating from the Cutbona fishing jetty informed that he and his colleagues had paid the fees to the Fisheries Department year before last, but did not receive anything in return from the department. “There’s no proper illumination at the jetty. The jetty road is in bad shape. We do not get adequate space for the loading of fish. There’s no space allocated for the agents to store the fixed boxes. When the department is not giving us any facilities in return, why should we pay the hefty fees to the department,” he said.
