MARGAO
What was feared all along by the boat owners operating from Cutbona fishing jetty has come true. The hostile navigation conditions at the mouth of the river Sal played spoilsport for the Cutbona boat owners on the first day of the new fishing season.
Dozens of fishing boats were stranded in the river Sal as a sand bar right in the river hampered the smooth navigation of the vessel. It was only after much struggle that a few boats managed to venture out during the high tide, bringing to the fore government’s failure and apathy to resolve the issues of navigation plaguing the mouth of river Sal.
Angry Cutbona boat owners directed their ire at the government for their indifference to ensuring the smooth navigation channel at the river Sal mouth. They demanded that the government and the disaster management authority put in place temporary measures to pave way for the fishing vessels to venture out into the sea from the river.
Boat owner Patrick Silva pointed out that around 50 per cent of the fishing vessels operating from Cutbona normally starts the new fishing season on day one.
“The fishing vessels were stranded for a long time. They could not venture out despite a high tide. The vessels could have met with an accident, resulting in damage. Sadly, the boat owners have to face such a situation when they have put in hard work to get the manpower and put logistics in place,” he lamented.
Newly-formed Cutbona Fishing Federation secretary and chairman of the fisheries cooperative society, Vinay Tari echoed similar sentiments demanding the government resolve the issue once and for all.
“Three years ago the government had started work on a training wall at the river Sal, but an NGO took the matter to court. The government should take proactive steps to find a permanent solution at the river Sal mouth,” he added.
Tari said the prevailing conditions at the river Sal indicates that fishing vessels will have to struggle to venture out into the sea and return with the fish catch.
Officials check vessels for violations after HC directions
MARGAO:
Officials of the Fisheries department and the Coastal police descended at the Cutbona fishing jetty on Monday on the first day of the new fishing season to check the fishing vessels as per the High Court directions to ensure that no boats carry LED lights and fishing gear facilitating bull trawling.
From Tuesday, the Betul Coastal police will deploy its motorized canoe at the mouth of river Sal to conduct random checking of the fishing vessels for any violations of the High Court directions.
Both the Fisheries and police departments will conduct checking of the fishing vessels round the clock as they have set up teams to work in shifts at the jetty.
The joint exercise by the Fisheries and Police department checked around 20 fishing vessels, but nothing incriminating was found onboard the vessels, sources said.
The teams are believed to have checked whether the crew have been registered with the department, whether they are covered under the insurance scheme and have been subjected to screening by the health department.
A Fisheries Officer told The Goan that the teams have checked whether the vessels were all equipped with safety equipment, besides whether they were carrying generators and LED lights for fishing.
Since the fishing season has just begun, the boat owners were told to get the Aaadhar card and other details of the crew and register the crew with the Fisheries department.
