CANACONA
The Coastal Police at Talpona along with officials from the fisheries department detained a fishing trawler from Karnataka after it was found illegally fishing in Goan waters off the Talpona coast.
Sources said the police and officials had acted on complaints from Canacona fishermen and assurances from Dy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes.
A team of officials and police went into the sea on a vessel of the fisheries department to keep a watch on unauthorised fishing by mechanised fishing vessels in the no-fishing areas on Tuesday.
The team found a fishing vessel with a high-speed engine reportedly from Mhalpe-Karnataka carrying out illegal fishing activities in Goan waters.
The officials detained the Karnataka trawler but had to secure it off the Talpona coast due to difficulties in getting the fishing boat to the Talpona jetty.
The fishing vessel was later taken to Betul on Wednesday morning, where it was reportedly detained pending further investigation.
Talpona Panch and fishing community leader Rudresh Namshikar criticised the fisheries department over its inability to take the detained fishing boat to the Talpona jetty.
“The fisheries department had time and ignored our pleas to dredge the mouth of the Talpona river and eventually got the taste of their own inaction.”
