Interaction with ST fishermen at Siridao coast off Goa

           An interaction was organized with the fishermen of Siridao, Zuari estuary, Goa on 19 October 2024. The traditional fishermen of the region operate both gillnets of different mesh sizes (24 to 150 mm) (locally known as “Kattayi”). The length of the net range from 200 to 400 m long and operated from motorized boats by 3-4 men per boat. The operation usually happens from 5 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 6 pm on a daily basis. A total of 80 active fishermen belonging to scheduled tribe and their family members operate traditional fishing for almost 300 days in a year. The women are engaged in marketing the catch along the roadside stalls and Panjim market. The fish catch was mainly consisted of white sardine, lesser sardines, thryssa, croakers, glassy perchlet, Silago, silver bellies, silver biddies, shrimps and crabs. Dr Sreekanth GB, Senior Scientist (FRM), ICAR-CCARI interacted with the fishermen and women (30 fishermen and 10 women) regarding the current issues in the Zuari estuary with respect to water quality and fish catch. Fishermen highlighted that the heavy rains during this season has reduced the number of fishing days to half till date and also the high incidence of jelly fish in the catch made fishing challenging. Dr Sreekanth suggested the fishermen to utilize the full catch and to put efforts to reduce the bycatch and discards. He has also requested the fishermen to segregate and keep discarded nets, and other waste materials and handover to the dry waste collection team in order to avoid the pollution in the region. He has also assured the scientific and technical support for the fishermen for fishing and developing marketing channels for their harvest. Mr. Jithesh, a fish buyer was also present during the interaction and requested the technical guidance and co-operation from the institute for the sustainable fishing and marketing of fresh fish. The research scholars from Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi were also present during the interaction. The fishermen assured that the information related to the catch and species can be shared to the institute through photographs and direct interactions for research purpose.