GFBOA demands extension to fishing jetty at Kharewado

Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association President and Former Minister Jose Philip D’Souza on Wednesday said that the extension to the present fishing jetty at Kharewado is the need of the hour.  

D’Souza was talking to reporters after a special programme conducted by GFBOA where in a priest was called to bless all the 

trawlers which were lined up at Kharewado Jetty before they could venture in the seas after a two-month fishing ban period that ended on Wednesday night. 

GFBOA offered a mass and other religious activities were performed. The priest later blessed all the trawlers while wishing all the trawler owners a very successful fishing season and prayed for the safety of their lives.

D’Souza appealed to the government and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to expedite the works on the modern fishing jetty and provide extension to the present fishing jetty in Kharewado which was in a dilapidated condition. D’Souza said that he will also take up the matter with his close friend and present Fisheries Minister Filiipe Neri.

 “We appeal to the government and MPT to come out with an immediate solution. The jetty is in a dilapidated condition and our trawler number strength has also increased. Today we have around 170 trawlers and we can only place ten 

trawlers at a time along the jetty. Suppose we get a good catch of fish and if the trawlers are loaded, they cannot be docked to the jetty. If we keep many loaded 

trawlers in the waiting while ten trawlers on the jetty are unloading their catch, then the fish which is caught could get soft and stale at times and we don’t want people to eat such fish and all our efforts also are wasted.”

“We demand that the government atleast provides us with a 100 mtrs extension on this present jetty so that we can at least place maximum trawlers on the jetty to unload the fresh catch of fish. We have put in 

all efforts to place this plan to the government. The present Fisheries Minister 

Filiipe Neri is dynamic and my close friend. I will personally take up this issue with him,” added D’Souza.