By Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji
 
Panaji, Jun 10: Goa government on Wednesday notified the fishing ban off the state coast between June 15 to July 31 to protect the fish breeding season from being disturbed.
 
With the onset of monsoons and scheduled fish breeding season, the mechanized fishing activity will be banned. The department has said that the traditional canoes and fishing with the smaller motorboats can continue their fishing occupation.
 
Around 1000-odd fishing vessels will be on the shore getting their annual maintenance done as all the seven fishing jetties in the state will be sealed for any activity.
 
“There will be total ban on fishing for all mechanized fishing vessels in the territorial waters of the Goa state,” state fisheries department’s notification issued today reads.
 
It mentions that the ban shall be application to the entire mechanized fishing vessel excluding the registered traditional non motorized and motorized canoes fitted with outboard or inboard motor of upto 10 HP capacity.
 
Goa’s ban coincides with the Indian government’s ban on the operation of all deep sea fishing vessels in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the west coast from June 15 to July 31.
 
“In Goa, the traditional fishing with the non mechanised boats contributes for hardly 25% while mechanised boats have 75% of the fishing share,” officials from state fisheries department said.

Goa, a major exporter of seafood to US, Japan and European countries, during the ban period to has rely on the eastern coast Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal for its domestic consumption supply.

But this fish is costly, most of the time, unaffordable to the commoners’ pockets as their market rates doubles.

The over fishing in the state’s territorial waters had forced the environmental groups to approach high court to get the ban imposed during the fish breeding season.
 
The petition filed by these groups in the High court had mentioned that  during the breeding season  of certain varieties of fish between June and August, the fishing activity especially mechanized boats and trawlers ought to be stopped, so as to enable the fish to breed  during the said breeding season, so as to conserve the same on a sustainable basis.

The state government itself  had conceded to the dwindling fishing catch in the state. Fisheries Minister Joaquim Alemao in his reply to the state legislative assembly had said that the fish catch has seen reducing trend. In 2008, 91,185 metric tones fish was netted as against 96,326 metric tonnes in 2007.