Fisheries dept to revive shrimp & fin fish hatchery through PPP mode; Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute appointed as technical consultant
The defunct prawn hatchery at Benaulim.
MARGAO
In a major setback to Benaulim’s traditional fishermen, the government has rejected their long-standing demand to allot 5,000 square metres of land from the defunct Benaulim prawn hatchery unit for foreshore facilities to benefit the local fishing community.
In fact, Deputy Fisheries Director, Chandrakant Velip has informed the Benaulim fishing community that the Fisheries Department is in the process of reviving the Shrimp & Fin Fish Hatchery at Benaulim through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
In a communiqué, Velip has informed Niz Ramponkarancho Evkott that the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has been appointed as technical consultant to provide the consultancy services for pre-operational activities of the proposed multi-species fish hatchery at Benaulim. “The hatchery to be developed shall benefit the local and young entrepreneur having fish and shrimp farms wherein the fish seeds shall be made readily available,” the communiqué said.
“In view of the above, it is to inform you that the said land of the shrimp fish hatchery at Benaulim cannot be allotted to local fishermen community at Benaulim to keep their canoes, nets and other fishing related activities,” the letter added.
Hopes were raised amongst the Benaulim fishing community that the government would allot the community land admeasuring 5,000 square metres of the defunct Benaulim hatchery land for fishing activities, including anchoring of country-made fishing vessels during monsoons, storing of fishing nets and cold storage facilities. For, a delegation of fishermen led by Pele Fernandes had called on the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with a plea to protect the interests of the local fishermen at Benaulim.
Strongly criticising the government for misleading Benaulim’s traditional fishermen over their demand for 5,000 square metres of the hatchery land, Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardesai accused the government of deliberately misleading the fishermen, questioning why the Chief Minister couldn’t be honest with the delegation instead of giving them false hope, only to issue an written rejection weeks later.
He demanded that the entire land be allocated to local fishermen, highlighting that Goa’s traditional fishing sector remains large but unorganised, lacking even basic facilities. “Two years ago, the Niz Ramponkarancho Ekvott (NRE) had proposed a ‘Fishing Activity Village’ on the site,” he said, while urging the government to reserve a quarter of the land for essential amenities like a covered boat parking area, fishing net drying and repair sheds, a fish drying area, toilets, bathrooms, and lockers for fishermen.
Local fishermen waging struggle since 2020
The process to revive the defunct Benaulim prawn hatchery spread across the sprawling sea facing land admeasuring 50,000 square metres at Benaulim was set in motion by the government around 2020-21. For, the Fisheries Department had floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting private players to set up a “shrimp & Fin Fish hatchery” through the Public Private partnership (PPP) mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operation and Transfer (DBFOT) Model.
In response, a host of private players and companies hailing from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, besides couple of local players, have submitted their EoI to execute the Fisheries Department’s Shrimp & Fin Fish Hatchery project.
The Niz Ramponkarancho Ekvott, a body of traditional fishermen, however, had proposed a triangular partnership model towards setting up of state-of-the art shrimp fish hatchery, insisting the control over the hatchery and the spacious prime land should remain in the hands of the local villagers, including fishermen.
Govt batted for the PPP mode
In the midst of the struggle by the fishermen, seeking space in the defunct hatchery land for local fishing activities, the government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced in his 2023-24 budget speech proposing to set up the Shrimp and Fin Fish Hatchery at Benaulim through PPP.
Despite the government making its intention through the 2023-24 budget estimates that the defunct hatchery would be reviewed through the PPP mode, the fishermen had knocked the doors of the Chief Minister on two occasions in the last two years, but in vain.
