Goa to ban indiscriminate LED fishing, bull trawling: CM

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday said that his government was in the process of banning mass fishing with LED lights and bull trawling, shortly after hundreds of traditional fishing boats and trawlers from Goa blocked the navigation channel of the Mandovi river off Panaji earlier in the day.

"The notification banning LED fishing and bull trawling will be issued in a couple of days," Parsekar told reporters in Panaji.

Fishermen in Goa have been demanding a ban on fishing with the help of LED lights, which attracts entire swarms of fish because of its powerful glow underwater. But experts claim that the practice abets indiscriminate fishing, which would eventually lead to a fish famine in the waters off Goa.

According to experts, bull trawling is another indiscriminate practice which is frowned upon by traditional fishermen, because it involves two trawlers fishing with a common net, virtually dredging all fish in their path from the water surface to the bed.

To protest against these practices a large section of fishing boat owners from Goa had used their canoes and trawlers to block the navigable channel of the Mandovi river for several hours on Wednesday.

Appealing to the fishermen, Parsekar said the state fisheries ministry aims at increasing vigilance as well as taking the help of the marine police to stop such acts of indiscriminate fishing, especially with the ban likely to be in place soon.

"We have to strengthen our efforts to stop this. I am meeting the fisheries minister to devise a way to stop this," Parsekar said.

--IANS

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