Tourists headed to Goan beaches to feast on fried mackerel and other fish may have a new a patrol boat warding off illegal fishermen to thank.
On Monday, the state government launched the Ave Maria-IX, a 15-metre-long boat that is powerful enough to chase and catch trawlers registered in neighbouring states, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, that fish in Goan waters.
The patrol boat has a marine radar, radio communication gear and an engine that can power the boat to a speed of 30 knots, roughly equivalent to 50 km per hour. Marine police will be aboard the boat, armed with rifles and hand guns as a deterrent.
"Anyone stealing our fish will now be caught," said Avertano Furtado, the state fisheries minister.
The threat might be an exaggeration, given that one boat has to patrol 105 km of coastline, but it will certainly be a huge improvement from the one trawler that the government was using until now. A trawler is a vessel used for commercial fishing rather than patrolling. Also, the state plans to introduce three more patrol boats in the coming months, depending upon how the first one fares.
Poaching by fishermen from other states has contributed to the depletion of Goa's fish stock, already decreasing because of overkill by local boats and water pollution.
Stocks plunge
Goa's total marine catch in 2013 was 87,984 tonnes, down from a decade-high of slightly more than 100,000 tonnes in 2005, according to the fisheries department. Mackerel, sardines, seer fish and milk fish are usually the top four catches by weight.
The state's total mackerel catch in 2013 had dropped to nearly 13,000 tonnes, from a little less than 24,000 tonnes in 2010. These were the amounts of mackerel, a popular fish, caught by the 1,400-odd trawlers registered in the state.
Similarly, sharks, which are cooked in a sour and spicy gravy, have nearly disappeared from Goan tables, with their catch plunging to 281 tonnes in 2013 from more than 3,000 tonnes in 2010. The catch of prawns, which are extremely popular with both locals and tourists as fried, curried, pickled dishes, dipped to 8,380 tonnes in 2013 from nearly 10,000 tonnes.
Goa's annual catch has been declining not because fishermen are cutting back for a lack of business. "Demand for fish is increasing every day, both due to domestic and tourist consumption, and the supply is surely reducing," said Baban Ingole, a marine scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography on the outskirts of the capital, Panaji.
"Some species, such as shrimps, mussels and oysters from aquaculture are in high demand. If the technology for marine fish culture is extended, Goans need not alter their food [habits] even though they may have to pay more for fish."
Already, in the past three years, the prices of some fish dishes have tripled. Salvatore Fernandes, who runs Fishermen's Bar, a restaurant in Colva, 40 km south of Panaji, said he sells a plate of three fried red-snapper fillets for Rs 450 to factor in higher fish prices, instead of Rs 150 a couple years ago.
Rogue fishing
Goa has had to introduce a patrol vessel because raids by fishermen from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu showed no signs of stopping, said Furtado.
Every fishing trawler registered in a state has to fish within the marine boundaries of that state. This roughly covers the area along the coastline up to 12 nautical miles into the sea. Rogue fishermen are those who cross into waters controlled by a neighbouring state and they can be apprehended by that government because every state has policing powers with its marine boundaries.
"It is a serious problem," said Furtado. "We had a trawler earlier but the fishermen's boats have superior engines and therefore more speed. Still, we caught 27 raiders in the past two years."
Out of these, 20 were registered in Karnataka while the rest were from Tamil Nadu. Some vessels from Maharashtra are also making forays into Goan waters, Furtado said.
A more fundamental problem is the Goa, Daman and Diu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, under which such raids and seizures are conducted. This law does not deter raiders because the fines are not high enough compared with the value of the fish hauls, said officials in the fisheries department.
In nearly all the 27 cases of illegal fishing, the government released the fishermen after fining them Rs 10,000, a fraction of the Rs 2 lakh and more worth of fish that they had caught. Typically, the Goan government confiscates the fish (and auctions it), but to fishermen the relatively small fine makes the risk of being caught appear worth taking, officials said.
High drama
Still the Goan government hopes the patrol boat will catch rogue fishermen before they get down to business in foreign waters. In the process, the Arabian Sea could witness some high drama as the boat chases raiders.
Typically, raiding trawlers come in pairs. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves the boat actively dragging a net that can drop close to the seabed. Sometimes, two or more boats can do this in tandem.
In a two-boat rig, the vessels sail in parallel. They come equipped with GPS gear, sonar-based fish locaters and high-powered 350 BHP Yamaha engines, which have as much power as a top BMW sports utility vehicle. They carry a fine dragnet in between, one that falls all the way down to a few hundred metres from the sea bed.
In tandem, the boats cut a wide swathe of sea. Their catch typically spans all sizes, ranging from baby sardines and tuna to sting rays and even dolphins. After harvesting one round, they keep scooping up more fish, moving all the time until their storage hatches are full to the brim.
They then turn around to make the trip home, which can take as long as four days if they have come from one of the many wharfs in Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula.
“It’s called bull-trawling," said Shamila Monteiro. "We had ten such cases in one year, 2013. They sweep a vast area of water and right to the bottom. Even fish eggs are not spared."
Until now, for every trawler that is caught, at least ten get away because the fisheries department did not have a vessel that could match the speed of the raiders' boats. With the introduction of Ave Maria into Goan waters, the hit rate is likely to improve.
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On Monday, the state government launched the Ave Maria-IX, a 15-metre-long boat that is powerful enough to chase and catch trawlers registered in neighbouring states, such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, that fish in Goan waters.
The patrol boat has a marine radar, radio communication gear and an engine that can power the boat to a speed of 30 knots, roughly equivalent to 50 km per hour. Marine police will be aboard the boat, armed with rifles and hand guns as a deterrent.
"Anyone stealing our fish will now be caught," said Avertano Furtado, the state fisheries minister.
The threat might be an exaggeration, given that one boat has to patrol 105 km of coastline, but it will certainly be a huge improvement from the one trawler that the government was using until now. A trawler is a vessel used for commercial fishing rather than patrolling. Also, the state plans to introduce three more patrol boats in the coming months, depending upon how the first one fares.
Poaching by fishermen from other states has contributed to the depletion of Goa's fish stock, already decreasing because of overkill by local boats and water pollution.
Stocks plunge
Goa's total marine catch in 2013 was 87,984 tonnes, down from a decade-high of slightly more than 100,000 tonnes in 2005, according to the fisheries department. Mackerel, sardines, seer fish and milk fish are usually the top four catches by weight.
The state's total mackerel catch in 2013 had dropped to nearly 13,000 tonnes, from a little less than 24,000 tonnes in 2010. These were the amounts of mackerel, a popular fish, caught by the 1,400-odd trawlers registered in the state.
Similarly, sharks, which are cooked in a sour and spicy gravy, have nearly disappeared from Goan tables, with their catch plunging to 281 tonnes in 2013 from more than 3,000 tonnes in 2010. The catch of prawns, which are extremely popular with both locals and tourists as fried, curried, pickled dishes, dipped to 8,380 tonnes in 2013 from nearly 10,000 tonnes.
Goa's annual catch has been declining not because fishermen are cutting back for a lack of business. "Demand for fish is increasing every day, both due to domestic and tourist consumption, and the supply is surely reducing," said Baban Ingole, a marine scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography on the outskirts of the capital, Panaji.
"Some species, such as shrimps, mussels and oysters from aquaculture are in high demand. If the technology for marine fish culture is extended, Goans need not alter their food [habits] even though they may have to pay more for fish."
Already, in the past three years, the prices of some fish dishes have tripled. Salvatore Fernandes, who runs Fishermen's Bar, a restaurant in Colva, 40 km south of Panaji, said he sells a plate of three fried red-snapper fillets for Rs 450 to factor in higher fish prices, instead of Rs 150 a couple years ago.
Rogue fishing
Goa has had to introduce a patrol vessel because raids by fishermen from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu showed no signs of stopping, said Furtado.
Every fishing trawler registered in a state has to fish within the marine boundaries of that state. This roughly covers the area along the coastline up to 12 nautical miles into the sea. Rogue fishermen are those who cross into waters controlled by a neighbouring state and they can be apprehended by that government because every state has policing powers with its marine boundaries.
"It is a serious problem," said Furtado. "We had a trawler earlier but the fishermen's boats have superior engines and therefore more speed. Still, we caught 27 raiders in the past two years."
Out of these, 20 were registered in Karnataka while the rest were from Tamil Nadu. Some vessels from Maharashtra are also making forays into Goan waters, Furtado said.
A more fundamental problem is the Goa, Daman and Diu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, under which such raids and seizures are conducted. This law does not deter raiders because the fines are not high enough compared with the value of the fish hauls, said officials in the fisheries department.
In nearly all the 27 cases of illegal fishing, the government released the fishermen after fining them Rs 10,000, a fraction of the Rs 2 lakh and more worth of fish that they had caught. Typically, the Goan government confiscates the fish (and auctions it), but to fishermen the relatively small fine makes the risk of being caught appear worth taking, officials said.
High drama
Still the Goan government hopes the patrol boat will catch rogue fishermen before they get down to business in foreign waters. In the process, the Arabian Sea could witness some high drama as the boat chases raiders.
Typically, raiding trawlers come in pairs. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves the boat actively dragging a net that can drop close to the seabed. Sometimes, two or more boats can do this in tandem.
In a two-boat rig, the vessels sail in parallel. They come equipped with GPS gear, sonar-based fish locaters and high-powered 350 BHP Yamaha engines, which have as much power as a top BMW sports utility vehicle. They carry a fine dragnet in between, one that falls all the way down to a few hundred metres from the sea bed.
In tandem, the boats cut a wide swathe of sea. Their catch typically spans all sizes, ranging from baby sardines and tuna to sting rays and even dolphins. After harvesting one round, they keep scooping up more fish, moving all the time until their storage hatches are full to the brim.
They then turn around to make the trip home, which can take as long as four days if they have come from one of the many wharfs in Kanyakumari, at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula.
“It’s called bull-trawling," said Shamila Monteiro. "We had ten such cases in one year, 2013. They sweep a vast area of water and right to the bottom. Even fish eggs are not spared."
Until now, for every trawler that is caught, at least ten get away because the fisheries department did not have a vessel that could match the speed of the raiders' boats. With the introduction of Ave Maria into Goan waters, the hit rate is likely to improve.