KARACHI: The Sindh government has acquired 20,000 acres of land in Thatta and Badin to set up crab and shrimp farms – a plan aimed at consolidating the dwindling fishing industry, which is suffering due to a ban on fish imports from Pakistan, and helping fishermen capitalise on market opportunities in Karachi.
This was disclosed by the provincial Fisheries Director General Ghulam Mohammad Mahar while addressing a seminar organised by the Indus for All Programme, WWF-Pakistan. “All stakeholders should come forward to promote sustainable use of fish resources. The government is making efforts to discourage the use of banned nets, which are having a negative impact on fish resources.” Mahar urged fisherfolk communities to voluntarily stop using banned fishing nets and use legal ones that do not harm juvenile fish. “Fishermen have earned their livelihood using traditional fishing methods since centuries and if they do not stop using illegal nets immediately, they will lose their livelihood.” He said that the Sindh government has set up a reverse osmosis plant to provide clean drinking water to the residents of Keti Bunder, a remote village located in the Indus delta.
Speaking on the occasion, WWF-Pakistan Programme Coordinator Nasir Ali Panhwar said that rich agricultural lands in the Indus delta have now become saline due to sea intrusion, as freshwater flow from Indus River is no longer available.
“As a result, communities depending on agriculture have turned to fishing. This rapid change has heavily burdened the existing fish resources.” Panhwar said that the trend of over-fishing led to unsustainable methods of fishing practices, which ultimately had to be banned by the government.
“The WWF-Pakistan is working closely with the communities in Keti Bunder to encourage fisherfolk to abandon banned nets.”
WWF-Pakistan Keenjhar Lake Site Manager Ghulam Rasool Khatri said that cold storage tanks have been provided to fishermen to reduce fish losses.
“A crab pond has also been set up with the help of the local community and mangroves will also be planted.” On the occasion two boats, three engines and five legal nets were handed over to fishermen of village Bhori in Khobar Creek.
Sindh Coastal Community Development Project Director Khawar Pervez Awan, BBSYD Deputy Project Director Aslam Jarwar and Coastal Community Development Project’s Akhtar Samoo also spoke on the occasion.
The Sindh government has imposed a ban on three types of fishing nets, Bullo, Gujjo and Katra. They are dangerous for the fish population because by using them, fishermen end up killing several tonnes of juvenile fish, small-sized fish and shrimps. The country’s fish catch declined by 11.13 percent to 113,219 tonnes during the financial year 2009/10 against 127,393 tonnes in 2008/09.
