Against hike in fishing cannoe licence fee by Captain of Ports

15 December 2025

To,

Captain of Ports,

Government of Goa,

Panaji, Goa

Subject: Objections to collection of Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection fee during annual renewal before December end

Sir,

It has come as rude shock to us at All Goa Small Scale Responsible Fisheries Union (AGSSRFU) that your office is collecting Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection of non-mechanised crafts and Rs.500/- as its licence fee together. Our investigations on this has revealed the following:-

1. It is for the first time in history of Captain of Ports in Goa that inspection fees are collected during annual renewal of licence. In the past Inspection fees were collected just once in life of canoe: during the time of fresh registration of canoes at Captain of Ports. Annual renewal payments included only licence fees which is currently Rs.500/-.

2. We are informed that Government passed the law to create this additional financial burden on small scale fishers in December 2019 but was not enforced for six years. We checked out the authenticity of such claims but failed to note any mention of inspection of canoe fees during annual renewal of licence.

3. There are several instances wherein the officers from Captain of Ports office has collected inspection of canoes fees but have never went on ground to inspect concerned canoes for which fees are collected for.

4. Renewal procedure at the Captain of Ports is dreadful lasting over a month, sometimes several months. Individual fishers are made to enter the chamber of Captain of Ports (COP) and search their files from hundreds of piled up files. This creates safety and security issue of documentation stored at COP office. This is very bad and needs to change. Small Scale Fishers must benefit from Ease of doing bussiness and single window quick processing of our applications. 

You are hereby requested to attend to these points and take following action:

1. Stop collecting Rs.1000/- as canoe inspection fees at the time of December end renewal time. If it's done according to 2019 amendment then keep it in abeyance (and eventually repeal) as it was done past six years due to its inherently fleecing consequences. Return the amounts of Rs.1000/- collected as canoe inspection fees back to the depositors.

2. Collect Canoe inspection fee only at the time of registration of fresh canoe and not annually as has been the practice hither to. Collect licence fee annually.

3. Ensure that officers entrusted with inspection of canoes actually do their job and know ground situation. Right now COP officers operate only on paper without any level information about canoes thereby short-circuiting entire process for the sake of promoting corruption.

4. Streamline registration and renewal procedure at the office of COP to ensure that procedure is simple, quick and easy. Ensure the collection of fees takes place in COP office itself rather than pushing fishers into intimidatingly long ques at solo bank counter of COP choice in Panjim.

5. Ensure that documents of registrations and renewal are handled by competent COP officers rather than fishers from all over Goa entering chamber of COP.

We expect your co-operation to act on this quickly.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely, 

Shaila D'mello 

President 

Laximan Mangueshkar 

Secretary