VASCO
Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) has on Sunday warned the State administration that Goan fishermen will be forced to take law in hand if action is not initiated against Malpe (a coastal location in Karnataka) fishermen fishing in Goan waters.
The GRE president Agnelo Rodrigues in a press release highlighted the State government inefficiency and failure to curb bull trawling by Malpe fishing trawlers in Goan territorial waters since last one year and also accused the Goan per siene boat owners for being silent on this issue.
“The Fisheries department in 2016 and the Central government in 2017 has banned the use of bull or pair-trawling in the territorial waters and Indian Exclusive Zone (EEZ), but still today more than thousand Karnataka trawlers are operating within the territorial waters of the State and continue to use this banned destructive gears without the fear of law or government of Goa. These Malpe boats not only uses destructive gear to fish but also uses high speed China engines which completely clears the seabed within few days, thereby completely destroying the nursing grounds of several species of fish and marine ecology,” said Rodrigues.
“If the Malpe boats are not stopped immediately and continue to enter Goan territorial waters then our Goan traditional fishermen and small boat owners will not have fish to harvest for the rest of the season and if this continues then it will be detrimental to the fishing community of Goa since today most of the fishermen are returning home empty handed,” said Rodrigues.
General Secretary of GRE Olencio Simoes demanded immediate action from Fisheries director and Fisheries Minister against the huge numbers of Malpe boats.
“These boats that enter Goa are not impounded and if they continue to use such destructive gears then it is certain that Goa which is the second State for export of fish will head towards fish extinction of wild fisheries and soon Goa will join the hands of other countries like Norway, Denmark, Oman, New Zealand, Australia, etc where fisheries had come to a halt because of such destructive gears. We warn the State administration if action is not initiated immediately then fishermen of Goa will be forced to take law in their hand, as these Malpe boats have not only overexploited our fish catch but also destroyed our nets,” said Simoes.
