Fisheries officials on Thursday impounded 20 fishing boats and auctioned 364 kgs of fish during a raid at Velsao beach after several boats had ventured into the sea during the fishing ban.
“The department initiated strict action against illegal fishing at Velsao after receiving a complaint that illegal fishing was being carried out by fishermen using unregistered nets off Velsao coast,” said a source.
Department officials, who were in Velsao, saw some fishing vessels returning to the shore; a total of 20 boats were impounded on site.
“Eleven boats were found with a catch of fish and a total of 364 kgs of fish were auctioned by officials amounting to Rs 47,320. Further, a case will be filed before the adjudication officer on all 20 fishing vessel owners and necessary action will be taken against them,” the source added.
Among the officials present during the raid were Rohita Naik (Superintendent of Fisheries), Roshni Naik (Asst Superintendent of Fisheries), Ravi Rodrigues and Sagar Naik ( Fisheries officers) Deepak Kuncolikar (Marketing Officer) and Gopal Zuvatkar (Fisheries Surveyor).
Verna Police Inspector Diago Gracias and officials of Coastal Police were also present.
‘Ban not applicable to us,' say traditional fishermen
Traditional fishermen based in Velsao led by outgoing Velsao Sarpanch Henriques D’Mello alleged they were being harassed by the fisheries department, even though the fishing ban was not applicable to traditional fishermen.
“We are traditional fishermen and we have supreme court order that we are permitted to fish during monsoons using one motor of 9.9 HP but with the sea going rough, we keep a spare motor handy as safety precautions. However, fisheries department has fined us for illegal fishing which is not true and around 60 boats had ventured in the sea today and have returned with a catch of solar shrimps,” said D’Mello.
“Solar shrimps appear only during this time during the monsoons and if not caught at this time, they disappear in the sea. We have explained this to the fisheries department on many occasions, but they continue to fine us by terming it as illegal fishing during ban period.”
“We cannot venture in deep sea using canoes and we are dependent on the catch of solar shrimps that appear during this time,” said D’Mello.
Another traditional fisherman, Aliston Pinto, said there was no truth that catch of solar shrimps would decline due to fishing in the breeding period. “The count of these shrimps is on the rise every year and this would not be possible if they were being caught during the breeding period.”
“These raids are politically motivated by a few people who are differentiating between traditional fishing and mechanised fishing and these fights have affected the entire fishing business in general,” said Pinto.
