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Goa fishermen worried over ban

        Panaji: Fishermen here are agitated after a local court banned fishing in the seas till mid August in view of the breeding season. Every year, fishing is banned in the deep seas for 70 days in the state from May 15 which continues till July 24. Fishermen complain of low fish catch as the high court order lifted the ban only on August 15. "This time the fish yield is very less. Earlier we were allowed to go for fishing around July 25 but now it is nearly August 15. It is generally due to weather. We carry these fish to Kerala, Bombay but this year it has been very less," said Abdul Shakoor, a fisherman. Trawler owners say they had applied to the court seeking reduction in the ban period as they had already paid in advance for the contract labourers who double up as fishermen. Discouraged by the court order, most of the contract labourers are now planning to return home. Although the ban was welcomed by social and environment activists, fishermen are a harried lot. "The season is very bad because we are late by 15-20 days. If we were allowed to go as per earlier days then it would have been better. Due to the uniform ban imposed by the federal government which is 15 days late for solar fish, we have become losers," said Victor Gonsalves, chairman of Mandovi Fishermen Society. Fishermen say during the ban period, most of their 1,100 trawlers and 900 mechanised boasts shall be anchored and their 25,000 men would be jobless. "The government should allow us fishing maximum by August 1 because after that it is very difficult to get fish. Everywhere in the country, fishing starts by August 1 then Goa should also have the same. We are suffering huges losses," said Hanumant, another fisherman.
-Aug 29, 2004

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