The annual monsoon trawling ban in Goa will come into effect from June 1. The ban will go on for 61 days, ending on July 31. The seasonal fishing holiday is meant to facilitate breeding of fish during the season.
The State Fisheries Department has issued an order banning trawling through mechanised boats during the period. However, the registered motorised canoes using gill nets have been exempted.
Nearly 1,500 trawlers in the coastal State would be anchored till July 31 as the annual trawling ban will be implemented along the western coast in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
A notification from the State asserts that the government of Goa prohibits fishing by vessels fitted with mechanical means of propulsion and by means of trawl-net and purse-seine net.
“Except fishing by the registered motorised canoes using only gill nets and fitted with outboard or inboard motors of up to 10HP capacity, as a means of propulsion, along the coastal area and the territorial waters, with effect from June 1 to July 31 (both days inclusive),” the order states.
The fishing ban in Goa has been enforced since 1981. During the period of ban, the fish supply to the tourist State will go down. Considering the last year’s controversy, during the ban, about formalin-laced fish imported from some of the Southern States, the Goa government will ensure import of fish from States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry after taking appropriate measures to ensure that licenses of importers are strictly monitored so that fish is not laced with formalin, said a senior official of State Food and Drugs authority here on Friday, requesting anonymity.
