KARWAR: Hundreds of fishermen from various parts of Uttara Kannada district on Saturday stopped five fish container trucks coming from Goa near Majali check-post on the Karnataka-Goa border and sent them back. The trucks, which were heading to fish mills in Mangaluru and Kerala, returned back to Goa in the afternoon.
The fishermen were staging a protest on the border against the Goa government for imposing a ban on import of fish from other states, claiming that this was illogical. Last week, the Goa government circulated an order banning fish from Karnataka and other states for the next six months. The government had claimed that fish from Karnataka had formalin content hence the ban was imposed. The decision has impacted the fishermen community in the district whose 40 per cent catch is sent to Goa.
Since the protest began, there has been tension in the border, with more than hundred police personnel from Karwar and Ankola and an equal number from Goa deployed on either side of the border. Apart from police, fire-fighters and ambulances have also been deployed at the Karnataka border.