Panaji: Declining fishery resources, rising diesel prices, inadequate cold-chain facilities, poor harbour infrastructure and increasing competition with other fishermen are among the major challenges confronting the trawler fishermen of Goa, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Mangalore, head and principal scientist Sujitha Thomas said on Thursday at a national fisheries workshop, here.Thomas said several steps can be taken to tackle the challenges, including upgrading trawlers so they can operate in deeper waters.She said there is a need to train fishers and crew members who would work on deep-sea vessels as operations there are more complex and require greater use of technology.“Our fishermen lack that,” she told TOI.Thomas also called for better cold storage on boats and at harbours to keep fish fresh until they reach markets.The scientist said harbours should be developed to accommodate larger trawlers. She said that promoting deep-sea fishing would require an increase in vessel size, making corresponding improvements to harbour infrastructure necessary.The expansion of deep-sea fishing could also open opportunities to target resources such as tuna and mesopelagic resources, Thomas said.The workshop on management of multispecies trawl fisheries was organised in Panaji in connection with the fishery improvement project (FIP), titled ‘The Indian West Coast Multispecies Trawl FIP,’ a joint initiative of Omega Fishmeal and Oil Pvt Ltd and T J Marine Products Pvt Ltd, Ratnagiri. The project focuses on trawl fisheries operating along the territorial waters of Maharashtra and Goa, where mixed species landings comprising both demersal and pelagic species occur.
