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PANAJI
Aggrieved by repeated instances of illegal fishing by canoes with purse sein nets, traditional fishermen from Siridao and surrounding areas on Thursday met Fisheries Minister Vinoda Paliencar and Director of Fisheries Shamila Monteiro demanding stoppage of illegal fishing in their area.
Minister Paliencar accepted that lack of machinery and manpower with dept is hindering the monitoring of such illegalities.
Fisheries dept is in process of recruiting people after that monitoring can be done effectively, said Paliencar.
The group of fishermen led by Fr Valerin Vaz, ex-sarpanch Siridao Cosme Peres and St Andre MLA Francis Silveira met the minister.
Peres said that as per the rules, canoes with purse sein nets cannot be used in the area of five kilometers from the coast. But some people are intruding in the territories. This leads to clashes between traditional fishermen and these canoe people.
We will go to court if this illegality is not solved, said Peres. St Andre MLA said that there are at least 1,000 traditional fishermen are operating in the stretch between Dona Paula to Agassaim.
