School students and teachers at the Benaulim beach with traditional fishermen and the village Sarpanch Xavier Fernandes on Thursday.
MARGAO
Benaulim-based fisherman Pele Fernandes on Thursday explained to school students that unlike the past, traditional fishermen inhabiting the coast take care of the marine species by rescuing sea turtles and dolphins on the shore.
He along with fishermen Remy Fernandes along with the Benaulim Sarpanch Xavier Fernandes had an interaction with a group of 35 students of Sarvodaya Educational Society’s High school, Curchorem at the Benaulim beach on Thursday.
The Students along with school headmaster Eknath Naik and teachers Stella Fernandes and Reshma Shaikh descended on the beach as part of the TERI project “Ocean Matters”.
As a matter of environmental concern, the students and teachers pointed out how marine life is put to risk when they get entangled in the fishing nets in the sea, insisting that the fishermen need to dispose of their nets by reusing or recycling the nets.
Pele, however, explained the students that the fishermen takes great care of the marine life. “Unlike the past, we fishermen take care to see that sea turtles and dolphins are rescued and released in the sea whenever they are found struggling on the shore or entangled in the nets”, he said.
Underscoring the need to protect the environment, Pele cited instances wherein politicians descend on the ground once a year on World Environment Day to plant a tree, only too soon forget to water the plants.
