ASHLEY DO ROSARIO
PANAJI
Ramponkar communities in hamlets dotting Goa’s 105-kilometer coastline are bracing themselves for a three-shift routine of round-the-clock fishing expeditions over the next eight weeks and will make hay not when the sun shines but when it doesn’t, hidden behind dark monsoon clouds.
Unmindful of the dangers posed by the rough and choppy seas during the monsoon fury, several traditional fishermen said these two months of June and July, give them exclusive reign over the Arabian sea waters and they will make best use of the opportunity to reap in a bumper catch.
These are the 60 days when Goa’s 1,000-odd mechanised fishing boats, which pushed Ramponkars to the margins for decades, are grounded and banned from fishing by law.
Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott (GRE) president, Agnelo Rodrigues, and several others belonging to the community acknowledged the opportunities that the ban period offers them to prosper and they will seize them, even if they have to brave the dangers of rough seas and inclement weather conditions.
“Local fish markets are under supplied and we do get higher prices for our catch. We have a monopoly over the sea and we will double or even treble our work hours to make the best of the opportunity,” said Camilo Fernandes of Velsao.
Their canoes are touched
up and ready, their outboard motors serviced and oiled and their ‘rampons’ (nets) mended, they said.
Mackeral, baby kingfish, shark, sardines, prawns, ray fish, ribbon fish among others are the varieties normally netted during this period revealed Camilo.
However, the most valuable catch will be when the shoals of prized ‘solar’ prawns are trapped in their nets, usually in the latter half of the July month.
Fish is a staple for a vast majority of the Goan populace and is in short supply during the monsoon months. The local markets depend heavily on imports from neighbouring States but this supply chain suffered disruptions due to a huge controversy over alleged usage of carcinogenic ‘formalin’ as a preservative which erupted last year. The row added to demand overshooting supplies in the local markets during the monsoon period and ramponkar communities struggled to fill the gap.
Local fishing communities inhabit hamlets and villages on the coast in Pernem, Bardez and Tiswadi in North Goa, besides the beach belt of Mormugao-Salcete and Canacona in South Goa.
Trawlers have by-passed ban: GRE
PANAJI: Several trawlers have side-stepped the fishing ban which came into force from June 1 and are still out at sea fishing alleged Ramponkars.
“The ban came into force on June 1 but several big mechanized boats set sail on May 30-31 and are plying their trade out in the sea,” said Agnelo Rodrigues who heads the traditional fishermen’s collective Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott.
“We have seen the boats equipped with LED lights fishing out in the sea,” Rodrigues said, adding that these boats normally stay out at sea for a week and are expected to return to the jetties by this weekend.
Rodrigues accused authorities responsible for implementing the fishing ban of lethargy and deliberate dereliction owing to pressure from the politically influential boat owners lobby.
The allegations made by Rodrigues were also echoed by Camilo Fernandes, who said the trawlers equipped with banned LED lights, have been sighted by several local fishermen in the last few days.
