Govt strives to boost blue economy: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Panaji (Goa) [India], January 3 (ANI): The government strives to bring more and more people into the fishing business to enhance the blue economy in the state, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
He was speaking at a pre-launch ceremony of Aqua Goa Mega Fish Festival which will be held at Campal Ground from January 10 to 12, organized by the Department of Fisheries at Secretariat on Thursday, a press release said.
The Department of Fisheries to mark the celebration has organized various activities like Competitions for kids & adults, live entertainment, capacity-building workshops, food culture, an aquarium gallery, commercial stalls etc, it added.
The Chief Minister informed that various activities would be conducted such as a capacity-building workshop to impart knowledge of the fishing business, a live programme for entertainment, food culture, an aquarium gallery for information
different species of fish, competition for kids and adults and commercial stalls for business transactions to mark the celebration of the Aqua Goa fish festival.
The Chief Minister speaking further reiterated the Government's commitment to making Goa self-reliant (Swayampurn) wherein the Department of Fisheries is also playing an important role. The objective of this festival, he said, is also to attract more and more people towards fishing and trade business.
The three-day festival will provide opportunities for those who are engaged in activities related to the fishing business. The van will travel all over the State to campaign for the Aqua Goa Mega Fish Festival, as per the release.
Minister for Fisheries, Nilkanth Halarnkar said the motive behind organizing the festival is to provide a platform for the stakeholders to get together and interact for B2B purposes and to understand modern and advanced techniques of fishing, its marketing, trading etc. Stalls would be set up for the display of various equipment needed for fishing, workshop would be conducted to educate youth about the fishing business. He said this mega fish is an opportunity for all to know about Goa as a rich fish culture and appealed to the people to cooperate to make this event successful.
Director Fisheries Yashaswini B, Deputy Director Chandrakant. Velip, Under Secretary, Antonio Savio Laurenco, and others were present at the function (ANI)