Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai on Friday accused the government of “diluting the rights” of the Goan fishing community with the modifications done to the mariculture policy, and demanded that they be restored.
“The (modifications to the) policy systematically take away the rights of traditional Goan fishing community and hand them over to non-Goans along with employment opportunities and schemes which are rightfully that of Goans,” Sardesai said in a press statement.
Pointing to the modifications to the Goa State Mariculture Policy 2020, Sardesai said: “The policy intended to promote and regulate cage fishing in Goa. The eligibility criteria at the time of notifying the policy in 2020 was that the applicant for the offshore aquaculture licence must, according to clause 8(a) of the policy, be a resident of the state of Goa. After keeping the policy in abeyance for two years, the government decided to modify this clause policy by allowing any citizen of India to be eligible for the aquaculture licence.” “The stakeholders, including ramponkars, are unhappy with this scheme. They fear they will be stopped from fishing or sailing through the waters around the offshore aquaculture fishing areas,” Sardesai said.