Goan fish consumers need more than 100 MT of fresh fish per day to remain disease free and healthy. But assured fish supply at subsidized rate on par with milk and vegetables is not on the list of any political party or government. Politicians hate to bring fish proteins on par with vegetables and milk. On the contrary by compelling Goans to give up on fish in their diet and resort to dietary transition leading to patronage of fast food and fat rich multinational food products, politicians are predisposing Goans to diabetes, cardiovascular, liver and kidney diseases. If several related research studies from health, nutritional and cost and benefit, marketing sector of fisheries are compiled and analyzed in tandem then a huge question mark would emerge on the very purpose of existence of the Goa fisheries department. Economic Survey 2014-5 shows that government supplied 28,738 MT of subsidized vegetables worth Rs 69 crore. This doesn’t take into account various subsidies given to local vegetable growers. During the same year, government also paid Rs 25 crore subsidy to 14,223 dairy farmers at the rate of Rs 9.40 per litre of milk. This excludes various other subsidies given to milk producers. So why then government gives Rs 20 to 30 crore subsidy to fishing sector without any benefit to fish consumers? If door delivery of fresh fish and shellfish is made possible by Smartphone Apps and web based local ventures like Fresh Fish Basket of Bhonsles of Betim and Pereiras from Vasco who manage Fishopper.com, then why not fisheries department sinks more money in such enterprises in PPP mode so that one million fish consumers in Goa can get fish delivered at their doors? Government can surely bear the delivery charges of these start-up ventures to ensure nutritional security. We need a nutritionally literate ruling party in Goa in 2017 whose leaders would direct the fisheries department to first pay practical attention to promote health and longevity of one million local fish consumers by ensuring sustainable and highly subsidized supply of Omega-3 rich fish in traditional diet. But by pampering and promoting only the interests of the mechanized and non mechanized fishing sector, who have sadly vitiated the law and order fabric of Goa for past three decades due their constant conflicts, all the political parties have taken steps since 1987 to deprive Goans from their most essential disease preventing fish proteins. This is one reason why Goan children have low weight at birth and are born weak and develop anemia. Lack of fish proteins is also causing weak eyesight among Goan children. Nutritional transition leading to replacement of fish with chicken is making more young people prone to cardio-vascular diseases. The fourth round of National Family Health Survey, 2015-6 has come out with shocking figures of statewide phenomenon of growing obesity. Only 15 percent people in Goa were overweight with Body Mass Index (BMI) over 25 kg per sq metre 10 years ago. The percentage of overweight or obese people in the state has gone up to 33 per cent. The average fish consumption also decreased during the same period. This is real bad news for those who consume more chicken, meat, poultry products and fast food. Both health and fisheries department are taking sadistic pleasure in these achievements which tells the world that Goa’s development means now having one among three citizen being declared overweight or obese. The natural preventive medicine for obesity is daily consumption of at least 100 grams of fish of good quality. But the government doesn’t care if half million people in Goa are obese. To keep the blood vessels, hearts, kidneys, livers and muscles properly toned, maintained and repaired, healthy Goans need a daily dose of 500 milligrams of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). For centuries, a major part EPA/DHA used to come from fish. That’s’ why traditional authentic Goan cuisine includes more than 1,000 recipes of fish and shellfish. The rise in deaths due to lifestyle related diseases is also due to inadequate supply of fish. All the plans and schemes of Goa’s fisheries department are producer, processors, market and exporters friendly. Symbolism, tokenism, publicity gimmicks in the name of selling fish to the public by hiding actual capital and running costs typifies this department. By not having any long term concrete proposal on providing fish protein supplements to entire population, the Goa fisheries department only indulged in cheap publicity stunts after messing up centrally sponsored National Mission for Protein Supplement (NMPS) under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. The fisheries department which doesn’t have a single sub head, a single scheme to benefit common fish consumers is just going through the ritual because central government released 2. 5 crore in 2013 and again the same amount in 2014 under NMPS to Goa as one of the 12 beneficiary coastal states. The highly capital intensive and expensive open sea cage culture scheme was earlier abandoned by the science and technology department. The reservoir cage culture would spend another Rs 2.46 crore, the brackish water cage culture, mussel culture would also consume Rs 1.60 crore liberal central grants. What difference a few thousand kg of fish from these academically executed expensive experiments would make in market to ensure nutritional security of a million local fish consumers? Demand number 66 in Volume II of state budget, 2016-7 giving details of expenditure has 14 pages of various heads of expenditure of Fisheries department. Under subhead 33, Subsidies, more than Rs 20 crore would be spent from the total budget estimate of Rs 69 crore. The 904 pages twelfth Five Year Plan document covering 2012-17 of state government has devoted 31 pages to plans of fisheries sector. It admits that report on state fisheries policy was approved in Ninth Plan in 2007 but was never implemented despite having funds. It confesses that- the marine fish production in the coastal waters has reached a point of overexploitation with the production crossing the MSY (Minimum Sustainable Yield). Such admissions and confessions would continue because the overexploited and disunited, protein starved fish consumers in Goa would never agitate to assert their nutritional rights and make it a major issue in 2017 elections.
www.navhindtimes.in 2011