Goa government would soon start providing fish to the people at subsidised rates, Fisheries Minister Vinod Palyekar said.`Goa Fisheries Corporation’ would be set up for this purpose, he said.
Speaking to reporters here after holding a meeting with the officials in this regard, the minister said that `fish curry and rice’ is the staple diet of Goan people, and his party (Goa Forward Party) was fulfilling its election promise of providing fish at affordable prices.
He and GFP leader Vijai Sardesai would soon meet the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to seek his guidance on this scheme, he said.
There was a proposal to set up fish stalls alongside the vegetable kiosks of Goa Horticulture Corporation (to sell at subsidised rates) but it was feared that this won’t go down well with “pure vegetarian” customers who buy veggies at these kiosks, said the minister.The annual ban on fishing during the monsoon will be enforced strictly, the minister said.
“The ban will be imposed from June 1 to July 31….No trawlers would be allowed to venture into sea,” he said.The government had made it mandatory for trawlers to install GPS tracking chips which was “for the sake of security of fishermen”, Palyekar said.
Trawlers will have to follow “uni-colour coding” (all trawlers will have same colour on outside) which will help the law enforcement agencies on the seas, he said.Thirty-five trawlers would be allowed to be replaced with new vessels every year on the first-come-first-served basis, the minister said.