Uttan: Fishermen haunted by fishhook injuries in deep sea

Bhayandar: Already combating the threat of fishing with LED lights and bull trawling, the fishing community from the coastal belts in Uttan near Bhayandar are now haunted by yet another and much more dangerous trend in the form of “Paaka Fishing” initiated  by a section of  their unscrupulous counterparts from Gujarat and Daman.

In his complaint to the fisheries department, local fishing community leader Leo Collaso has exposed the fatal threats and risks involved in this type of fishing which involves usage of tangus threads or fishing wires which are usually 3 to 4 kilometres in length and tagged with more than 1,000  hooks at regular intervals. These wires are dropped deep down into the waters to hook a breed of fish known as vaam (eel) which are known to hibernate in the muddy bottoms of the waters they frequent.

“While a single haul of around 30 to 40 eels fetches around Rs 30,000, the consequences of such type of fishing has endangered lives of traditional fishermen of this region who are at always at risk of getting hit by the detached hooks resulting into fatal injuries,” revealed local fisherman Ajit Gandoli. “The fisheries minister has assured to look into the matter and put an end to such lethal methods at the earliest,” said Collaso.