MAPUSA
Nearly two months after Fisheries Minister Nilkant Halarnkar assured the Goa Assembly that drone-based aerial surveillance would soon be launched to check illegal fishing practices along the State’s coastline, the initiative remains incomplete with key steps still pending.
The Fisheries Department has since invited tenders for the appointment of an agency for drone-based surveillance and digital data maintenance.
A special control room has also been set up within the department to monitor live feeds and outputs from drone operations, once they are in place.
However, it remains unclear which company or agency will be awarded the contract, as the tender process has yet to be finalised.
Sources in the fisheries department said the proposal still awaits the government’s nod.
However, Halarnkar said the tender has been issued and awaits further formalities.
“We are yet to fix the time period which will be done very soon,” Halarnkar said.
The fisheries minister during the last Assembly session, had said that two drones would be deployed – one each for North Goa and South Goa – to strengthen monitoring of the territorial waters.
The plan was aimed particularly at curbing banned practices such as LED fishing and bull trawling, which continue to be reported despite repeated crackdowns.
The Fisheries Department has already conducted pilot trials of drone surveillance along the coast, with demonstrations showing drones could capture images up to 20 km offshore and even during night operations.
The feeds are expected to be linked with the newly established control room to enable real-time detection of violations, which would then be acted upon by the Coastal Police and Coast Guard.
At present, enforcement against illegal fishing continues through regular land-based patrols, departmental patrol vessels, and occasional joint operations with coastal authorities.
In the past year, several vessels engaged in LED fishing were seized and penalties imposed under the Goa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1980.
While the infrastructure for drone-based monitoring is gradually being put in place, the full roll-out of the project hinges on the finalisation of the tender and appointment of an implementing agency.
Until then, the much-touted technological push to protect Goa’s marine resources remains on hold.
