PANAJI: Fish is an irreplaceable part of most Goans’ diet. Its importance is manifested in the thriving fishing industry, which contributes about 2.5% to the state’s GDP. Yet, Goans find that their beloved staple is becoming increasingly unaffordable.
“When fish is a natural resource, why is it being sold at an exorbitant price, which the aam aadmi cannot afford?” asks a 60-year-old, who can no longer afford the better fish varieties.

Not that there is any shortage.
In 2019, the state’s marine fish production stood at 86,027 tonne and inland fish production was 3,669 tonne. All of this is facilitated by over 3,000 mechanised vessels.
What irks locals is that despite owners of these vessels being heavily backed by subsidies, fish is nowhere close to being affordable.
The state spends around Rs 60 crore annually on subsidies for the fisheries sector.
“Rs 24 crore goes towards subsidy on reimbursement for VAT on diesel for mechanised fishing vessels,” a government official says.

“When public money is used to keep the fisheries business afloat, what is the benefit for the consumer?” one aggrieved consumer asks.
Panaji-resident R D Pires points to the lack of political will to rectify the situation. “There is no end to the escalating fish prices in the state. Political will is needed to take up measures for sustainable fishing, encourage fish farming and make affordable fish available to citizens,” Pires says.

General secretary of Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) Olencio Simoes cites dependence on migrant labour for crew, price regulation and inaccessibility to the wholesale market without the involvement of agents as some of the reasons for inflated fish prices.
“Wholesale markets in Goa, especially in South Goa, are controlled by agents. Due to this, most local fishermen don’t get first preference in these markets. Trucks carrying fish from other states are given priority,” Simoes says.
Local fishermen are therefore forced to either lower fish prices or give away their catch for exports to make sure that everything is sold, he says.
However, even the export industry doesn’t seem to be doing very well, according to president of the Sea Food Exporters’ Association of India, Maulana Ibrahim.
“We did a business of Rs 100-120 crore through fish exports earlier. In the last fishing season, however, we have not even made Rs 20 crore,” he says.
“Until and unless the central government doesn’t formulate a uniform policy for fisheries and take action to implement it, the industry is going to collapse. The policy must set new guidelines for mesh size, fish nets, boat size, allied fishing, high speed engines used on the boats, etc, for ocean catch,” Ibrahim says.
Sebastiao Cardozo, general secretary of the All Goa Purse Seine Boat Owners’ Association, points to another lacuna. He says the Goa government has not provided fishermen with storage facilities at jetties.
Those in the fishing business also point to the fisheries department’s failure to implement the ban on destructive fishing gear, like LED lamps, and illegal fishing activities like bull trawling and high-speed trawling.
These illegalities perpetuated by bigger mechanised boats affect the catch of small-time trawler owners and have a cascading effect on prices.
As a solution to battling depleting resources and combating the issues leading to it, those in the hinterland want a huge push for ‘caged culture’ and estuarine fishing.
Traditional fishermen also face problems due to water sports activities and marine projects.
BAD PRACTICES
Use of LED lamps was banned by the central and state governments two years ago, but implementation is only on paper. When traditional fishermen raised the issue, Goa’s fisheries minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues had expressed inability to act against those engaging in it. He had also pointed to the fisheries department’s failure to implement the ban on destructive fishing gear.
Practices like LED-fishing result in over-exploitation of fishery resources, and Rodrigues had promised to work in coordination with central agencies such as the Indian Coast Guard and the state’s department of ports to tackle the issue.
To further curb the illegalities, the state fisheries department is currently forming draft rules to penalise violators based on the offence or gravity of the violation.
WHEN NATURE SHOWS NO MERCY
Natural phenomenon also has its impact on the sector. From August to October 2019, Goa faced the effect of four cyclones. Cyclonic conditions also led to the migration of schools of fish.
Soonafter, in March 2020, the pandemic hit and the fisheries sector in Goa was badly affected due to major outmigration of labour.
The cutting down of the fishing ban period also did not help as expected because August 2020 yet again brought with it stormy weather.
The sector is seeing a gradual revival at present with only 30% activity resumed as of October.
According to Cardozo, a large part of the problems faced by the fishing sector in Goa today could perhaps be resolved if fishermen are allowed to venture beyond their jurisdiction. “Owing to the large size of the purse seiners, we have the capacity to fish beyond state waters — 12 nautical miles from the shore. We are, however, restricted only to Goa. We must be permitted to enter national waters, at least till Maharashtra and Karnataka,” he says.
State fish of Goa
The striped grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), locally known as ‘shevtto’, is a delicacy in Goa. The fish is nutritionally superior. With an average catch of 280 tonne per annum, the fish contributes to about 7% of Goa’s total inland production. The mullet fish catch in 2019 stood at 492 tonne compared to 632 tonne in 2018 and 726 tonne in 2017 thus showing a sharp decline in catch over the past couple years.
(Source: Goa’s state fish report by directorate of fisheries)