BY A GT CORRESPONDENT
CHANDOR: With not a soul in sight, Cutbona fishing jetty resembles a ghost town. However, just two days from now, the place will be teeming with activity.
With the the fishing season all set to commence on August 1, with the lifting of the fishing ban the place will spring to life once again.
Currently, most of the establishments at the jetty are closed. These include the tea and snack stalls, the restaurants serving thali, the liquor outlets and even the petrol pumps.
There are two petrol pumps at Cutbona. While one pump is managed by the Cutbona Fisheries Co-operative Society, the other is run by South Goa Mechanised Boat Owners Co-operative and Marketing Society.
According to Aldrin Crasto, manager of the pump operated by Cutbona Fisheries Co-operative Society, on the first two days of the season, they expect to sell at least 25 kilo litres of diesel per day. Subsequently, on an average, the pump sells 8 to 9 KL of diesel a day.
At the other pump, the daily sale of diesel is between 8 to 10 kilo litres while on the first two days, the sales are expected to be 16 kilo litres per day disclosed Kapil Ghotge, its owner.
The Cutbona Fisheries Co-operative Society caters to around 70 smaller vessels which have a three-cylinder engine and another 70 vessels that have six-cylinder engines.
The South Goa Mechanised Boat Owners Co-operative and Marketing Society, has 70 members who collectively own 112 vessels.
Currently, a few vessels are anchored at the jetty where minor repairs like painting and polishing is going on. However, most of the vessels are hoisted on land on the other bank of the river where repairs are underway.
The staff employed on these vessels are scheduled to arrive only from July 28 July onwards.
On an average a trawler has six labourers and one tandel or the captain. However, the purseine vessels carry around 20 labourers along with two tandel, two arimen and one mastman.
While the tandel steers the vessel and the airman supervises the laying of the net, the mastman has to spot the shoal.
The labourers are paid around Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month, the mastman earns around Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. The tandel is paid around Rs. 7,000 while the ariman earns around Rs 10,000 per month. However, at the time of a bumper catch, they are rewarded with hefty bonuses.
The tandels and arimen are from Karnataka, the labourers come from states like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Jharkand and Karnataka.
On an average, 200 others are employed in ancillary services like weighing of the catch and loading it onto pick-ups.
On an average, around 20 pick-ups owned by local Goans, transport the catch to the local markets. Similarly, around 10 refrigerated vans transport fish to Kerala and others parts where it is processed or exported.
However, whenever there is a sardine catch there are around 30 pick-ups and 50 refrigerated vans.
The Cutbona Fisheries Co-operative Society also runs an ice plant at the site. On an average smaller vessels carry 5 tonnes of ice, while the larger ones carry 10 tonnes. Besides, the agents who purchase the catch, use at least 25 tonnes of ice every day.
Once the season commences, the Assolna market is a major beneficiary. On an average, each vessel daily requires minimum 25 kg of rice for the staff employed. Besides, other requirements like condiments, masala, vegetables and coconuts are purchased from Thursday bazaar at Assolna or otherwise from Margao.
The staff is also provided a gas cylinder and stove to can cook their meals on the vessel itself, which incidentally is also their living quarters.
Sanitation is however not taken very seriously by the owners. The staff uses the sulabh facilities provided at the jetty which is inadequate for the quantum of people involved and some of the vessel owners have constructed toilets adjacent to their sheds used to store implements and nets.
“Mostly the staff use the dinghy attached to the vessel to do their jobs out in the sea,” admitted one vessel owner.
