the goan I network
MARGAO
From where does the SGPDA retail fish market get its daily stock of fish when there’s a ban on import of fish from outside the state “ is it from the state rivers, from across the border in Karwar or the fish netted by the traditional fishermen with canoes and rampon.
This question has come to the fore as there’s no dearth of fish available for sale in the SGPDA retail fish market, though in small quantities and at a premium, even four days after the government imposed a ban on the entry of fish into the state.
This question became all the more important after an aggrieved customer, who had earlier in the day purchased some fish returned complaining that the fish he had bought was stale and demanded his money back.
“When the fish was being cleaned at home, we found that it was stale. That’s the reason why I came back to the market to return it to the vendor,” the customer said.
While the import of fish by insulated vehicles is being checked at the Polem check post, sources in the know said that fish, especially shrimps and sole fish, netted from the Karwar coast has found its way into the Goa market in the last three days.
“It may be true that fish from Karwar has come into the state in the last three days. We do not know how the fish has come into the state when the government has banned the entry of all fish into the state,” said the president of the Retail Fish Association, Felix Gonsalves.
Gonsalves, however, made it clear that river fish as well as fish netted by the traditional rampon and canoes have hit the wholesale fish market, but at a premium.
“Today, I received a sizeable quantity of river fish from my supplier. Other vendors also purchased fish from the wholesale fish market, which came from the coast,” Felix said, trying to drive home the point that supply of local fish is also taking place in the SGPDA wholesale and retail fish markets.
A look at the SGPDA fish market revealed that fish was available for sale in the market on Sunday as well, albeit at a premium with a vantto being sold from Rs 500 onwards.
Questions were, however, being asked as to the origin of the fish.
At the wholesale fish market too, a couple of vendors selling local catch made brisk business. Being a Sunday, when most Goans feast on fish, both the wholesale and the retail fish markets saw customers making a beeline to lay their hands on a vantto, even though it was being sold at a premium.
