Daily Times

KARACHI: Sindh Fisheries Department director general Mir Allah Dad Talpur announced that the government was planning on establishing a new harbour at Keti Bunder in order to make the market more accessible through the provision of a landing site for local fishermen in Thatta, Badin and its surrounding areas.

This Talpur said while he was addressing a workshop organised by WWF-Pakistan in collaboration with Sindh Fisheries Department to mark World Fisheries Day 2018 which was observed on Wednesday.Talpur said that the national and international experts were also being consulted by the government in this regard.

“This facility will not only reduce transportation expense of fishermen but they will also be able to fetch good prices for their catch,” he said. Talpur also regretted that the sea was used as a dumping site. He said that disposing waste in the sea was leading to degradation of rich marine ecosystem. He informed the workshop that the government was also planning on setting up three sewage water treatment plants in the metropolis.

He shared that the department was taking all possible steps to improve living standards of the fisher community by promoting coastal ecotourism as practiced in Malaysia and other coastal countries in the world. “Further, Sindh government is also approaching Asian Development Bank (ADP), World Bank, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve the fisheries sector in Pakistan,” he added.

Moreover, Talpur said that there was a dire need to provide quality education to children of fishermen. “The government is also considering the provision of scholarships to children of fisher communities through an endowment fund,” he shared.

WWF-Pakistan conservation director Dr Babar Khan also addressed the workshop. He apprised the audience of the WWF-Pakistan’s observer programme and shared how it helped in conserving endangered, threatened and protected species. He said that in the past, around 12,000 marine dolphins and 28,000 turtles used to die annually because they got entangled in fishing nets. He said that those numbers had dropped to a few hundreds now because fishermen were educated on safe release and schooled in innovative practices. He added that the safe release of various species was a significant contribution towards conservation of marine biodiversity.

He also appreciated the efforts of the fisheries departments, which in collaboration with WWF-Pakistan and other relevant agencies is working to improve the fisheries sector in the country. However, he also mentioned that illicit catch of juvenile fish was a serious threat to the fast depleting marine fish stocks in Pakistan. He urged the stakeholders to promote fish farming in inland waters as well as in the coastal areas so that the fishing industry could get additional raw material for processing, export and revenue generation.

Marine Fisheries Department deputy director Zafar Imam gave an overview of the status of fisheries in Sindh and Balochistan and shared that fish processing units had been installed at different locations along the coast. He said that these facilities could be used for capacity building of local fishers to improve the fisheries sector. He stressed on the need for promotion of aqua-culture along the coast of Pakistan.

Sindh Fisheries Department deputy director Aslam Jarwar told the workshop that there was a need to completely shun the use of small mesh sized nets because they posed a threat to juvenile fish species. He also shared that the department was making all possible efforts to improve living standards of fisher communities by providing them with Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, legal nets and boats. He added that the government had established residential colonies for the fisher communities. He then urged the fishermen to support the government in implementation of the policies directed towards efficient management of fisheries resources.

WWF-Pakistan conservation manager Altaf Hussain Sheikh, Sindh WWF conservation manager Saeedul Islam, WWF-Pakistan marine program coordinator and Mohammad Ayub a community representative also spoke during the event.

Fifty iceboxes were also distributed among deserving fishermen on the occasion. The iceboxes would help fishermen reduce post-harvest loss and enhance their income generation capacity.

Published in Daily Times, November 29^th 2018.