Migrant crew members waiting at the Cutbona jetty to return home.
MARGAO
With the annual fishing ban set to come into force from June 1 and the vessels droping anchor, migrant labourers who form the backbone of Goa’s mechanised fishing industry have begun returning to their native states.
A majority of the workers, hailing from Odisha and Jharkhand, have already commenced their journey home. While several boat owners arranged buses to transport their workers, others opted to travel by train.
Only a handful of migrant workers remain at the Cutbona fishing jetty, and they too are expected to leave in the coming days by bus or train.
More than 5,000 migrant workers from Odisha and Jharkhand are employed on nearly 150 fishing vessels operating from the Cutbona jetty, underlining the fishing sector’s heavy dependence on migrant labour.
The industry relies extensively on these workers, to the extent that any delay in their return after the monsoon season adversely affects fishing operations.
While most labourers continue to work on fixed wages, a new trend has emerged in recent years, with many migrant workers preferring to work on a percentage-sharing basis instead of monthly salaries.
