PANAJI/MARGAO
Hundreds of mechanised fishing boats will drop anchor and many already have and stay put for two months after the breeding season fishing ban comes into force from Tuesday.
The fishing ban begins on June 1 and ends on July 31. The ban is applicable in all four States on the west coast -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa.
Major fishing hubs across the State wore a deserted look on Monday. South Goa’s major fishing hub, Cutbona fishing jetty, was one among them.
Unlike previous years, boat owners, operating from the Cutbona jetty, had capped their operations long before curtains on the fishing seasons came to an end on Monday.
With Covid affecting the coastal areas and the boat owners not taking any chances, most of the mechanized fishing vessels had dropped anchor before Cyclone Tauktae had hit the state in mid-May.
And, the few vessels, that had ventured into the sea post-cyclone had also dropped anchor citing poor or no catch in the sea.
Sources informed that most of the boat owners had sent their crew members to their native states either by train or by chartering coaches.
“With Covid-19 claiming many lives and the virus spreading in the villages in a big way, the boat owners did not take any chances and preferred to stop the operations and send their workers back
home,” a boat owner said, adding that most of the crew members were sent to their native states from the fishing jetty.
With the ban on mechanised fishing coming into force from Tuesday, it opens up vistas for traditional fishing communities inhabiting little fishing hamlets dotting the 105-kilometer coastline of the State.
With supplies to local fish markets drastically dwindling during the fishing ban, catch of these traditional fishing communities fetch better prices. They also end up with bigger catches during this ban period.
Several fish-loving Goans also make a beeline to where these traditional fishermen land their catch on some of the beaches and also river banks, for a direct bargain and also to net fresh fish for their dining tables.
Other traditional fishing zones in brackish waters, including sluice-gate regulated khazans (manas) also buzz with activity during these two months when fish markets are starved of supplies from the mechanised fishing (trawlers) section of the fishing sector.
