Sea cages bring joy to fishermen in Polem
THE GOAN NETWORK
CANACONA
Director of Fisheries Shamila Monteiro visited Polem-Canacona to witness the last leg of harvesting fish from cages in the open sea, as part of the government’s fish culture project’ which is now three years old.
Also known as open sea cage project, the fisheries department under this central government scheme allotted several fish cages to various coastal fishermen to protect breeding of specialized fish species in the open seas.
The cages are set up in the sea after the monsoon - October-end or beginning of November, and protect fish roe (fertilised fish eggs) fish that is in high demand in the State like Chonak and Modso.
The cages are finally taken out before the sea gets rough due to the approaching monsoon rains, either at the end of April end or in early May.
The director of fisheries witnessed the exercise and even took part in removing some fish from the caged nets.
According to sources, over 28 fish net cages are set up annually in the seawater at Polem and Talpona alone. The Modso and Chonak fish is then sold in the open market, commanding considerable rates.
Canacona-Nuem-Khola coast also has about a dozen net cages provided by the fisheries department.
Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado had launched the project in Canacona in 2013 at an initial cost of Rs 1.70 crore from central funds. The minister had expressed plans to expand the project to other coastal parts of the State.
