Goa to install CCTVs at jetties to stop LED fishing

In a bid to stop LED fishing for sustainable fishing activities, the Goa government has decided to install CCTV cameras at jetties in the coastal state, state Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar said on Tuesday.

"LED fishing should be stopped for sustainable fishing activities. For this we will install CCTV cameras at all jetties. Already we had started at Vasco jetty, work of which had stopped for some reasons, but the process will soon start again," Halarnkar told the reporters in Panaji.

He added that there are directions from the High Court to install CCTVs at jetties.

"We will install CCTVs and will keep watch on such activities," he said.

Earlier in May, Halarnkar had added that LED fishing normally occurs 12 nautical miles away.

"We have only one boat to conduct raids, but the boat cannot reach that far. So are proposing to buy two more boats," he had said.

Fisherfolk in Goa have been demanding a ban on fishing with the help of LED lights, which attracts entire swarms of fish with the help of its powerful glow underwater.

Marine scientists have also suggested that the practice abets indiscriminate fishing, which would eventually lead to a fish famine in the waters off Goa.

According to sources, fishing boats start using LED lights from month of November or December when there is less catch.

"Now they are getting good catch of fish, so they don't use the LED now. But later when catch is less they start using it. That time we will keep watch," Fisheries Officer on condition of anonymity told IANS.