Ahead of the upcoming State Assembly session in February, fishermen from Salcete are hopeful that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will grant their long-standing request for 5,000 square metres of land at the now-defunct Benaulim shrimp hatchery.
Fisherman Pele Fernandes stated that Chief Minister Sawant has given a positive response to their demand. It may be recalled that the fishermen have been insisting on the allocation of land for their exclusive fishing needs and warned against handing over the larger 50,000 square metres of land to outsiders for development, if their demand is not met, emphasising the importance of preserving the land for local traditional fishermen.
In the recent past, the Fisheries Department’s attempt to set up a shrimp and finfish hatchery through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) faced opposition from the fishermen who prioritise their land requirements for fishing activities.
The Niz Ramponkarncho Ekvott (NRE) had proposed that a state-of-the-art ‘Fishing Activity Village’ be taken up there and that that the government reserves nearly a quarter of the land for fishing boat parking area under shed, fishing net drying area, fishing net repair shed, fish drying area, toilet and bathroom for working fishermen, lockers for fishermen’s clothes, etc.
Incidentally, last year, when the Union Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala was visiting Goa, traditional fishermen from Benaulim had submitted a proposal to the Minister for using this land for the benefit and promotion of local fish business.