The life of more than five million people dependent upon fisheries continues to be far away from the imagination of those who are responsible for the welfare of the poor of Pakistan. Each birth in this community is unsung and each death unwept. Those who survive the vagaries of nature endure all hardships as part of their being.
The Karachi Fish Harbour Authority estimates about half a million fishermen living along the Sindh-Balochistan coastline. Each household of a fisherman has, at an average, ten members and not necessarily all are earning hands.
Generally a living unit consists of a hutment with thatched roof and wooden partitions inside to earmark bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and a courtyard for the children to play.
They artfully carve out all these facilities only on a plot of only 80 square yards. If living in colonies at the fringes of an urban area or if they are lucky to be in a village at the seashore, they get a few more yards to add to their huts. Those who enjoy the goodwill of the village head may get some more land to keep their poultry and milch animals.
Usually these areas are without potable water and sanitation facilities are non-existent.
Mostly the womenfolk fetch water from distant places, as they cannot afford to purchase it from a water seller. One canister of about twenty liters costs something between 40 to 50 rupees - half of one-day's salary of a woman working at a shrimp-pealing stall.
One canister of water lasts for one day if only the family consumes it but in case a guest visits the family and stays for a longer period, the entire arrangement of water storage gets disturbed. Asking for a glass of water from the neighbour is often embarrassing. Loan of wheat flour and edible oil is often ignored but a glass of water continues to be an obligation one desires to get rid of.
The return of such curtseys is welcome with thanks. Their daily meal consists of a piece of bread, fish curry and onion. The availability of fish curry depends upon the catch or the availability of dried fish in stock.
Meat, pulses and vegetables are luxuries and are cooked on rare occasions. The difference between the meal served to a girl and a boy is noticeable. The boy gets more nutritious food than girl does in a family.
Childbirth is usually at the hands of traditional birth attendants. Maternal mortality is high and the infant mortality rate is even higher. A death is always considered as will of God and is seldom mourned for a longer duration. Once a family member is dead he/she is buried and forgotten.
The mourning period comes to an end within three days. It is not because of the heartlessness of the people that they forget their loved ones immediately after they are gone but because of their resource inadequacy that compels them to forget their loss.
It is rare that death of the head of the family brings differences among his heirs, as he leaves nothing to distribute among them. What he leaves is his personal stories - mistakes and virtues.
In addition, the fishing net in need of extensive mending hangs on dried wood joins the family in their moment of bereavement. It is an atmosphere of gloom that tells passers-by about the sufferings in a family.
There is no concept of health facilities in these localities. Children do not get vaccination against small pox, measles, tetanus and protection against polio and other deadly diseases. Diseases go unnoticed in these poverty-stricken areas.
Malnourished children are in plenty here. When young they roam naked showing their bulging tummies and rickety legs. If they carry a loaf of bread in their hands flies accompany them wherever they go. Flies sticking to their nostrils leave microbes on their lips to multiply and cause diseases.
Girls above the age of seven usually stay inside the hut and look after their siblings while parents stay out at work. Though the families know each other as long-time neighbours or relations they try to keep their girls away from male members living next door. Cases of abuse of young girls and boys are common but usually go unreported.
This they do under peer pressure or after getting compensation in the form of money. In either case the blot on ones character continues and often haunts the victims throughout their lives. For them it is one of the dimensions of poverty that has been foreordained.
They have to live with it and when dead pass it on to their children. The disgraceful events never die in this community.
The women are mostly undernourished and pregnant. But their inability to work hard and rest for a while is not a matter of concern for their families. It is never taken into consideration and never condoned. They have to look after the kitchen and feed their children at any cost.
A woman who works hard throughout the day to supplement her husband's income doesn't get her due share of food for two reasons; excessive number of children and unproductive in-laws at dotage.
Both are dependent on the family. The mother has to breast-feed her children and arrange for solid food. Elders of the family should also get their share of food and no excuse is to be entertained. Food is to be cut from one end and supplied to the other. In these adjustments women suffer most.
Many women who have to meet the increasing demands of the family work along side their husbands in the fishing industry. They are usually employed in the sorting, pealing and packing of shrimp. This is hard work with little wages. These helpless women get around 2000 to 2500 rupees per month. Those who work on daily wages lose their money for off-days.
The men earn at an average of 4000 rupees in a month. If a fisherman dies his family gets compensation to a maximum of 200,000 rupees. But this compensation is available only to registered fishermen.
Karachi Fish Harbour Authority has registered about 20,000 fishermen living on the Sindh coastal area. These people have crew cards to work as fishermen and take trips to the sea.
The KFHA estimates many more thousands earn their livelihood from fishing but are not registered with the authority. Similar is the position with the Fishermen's Co-operative Society, which has to look after and protect the interest of the registered fishermen.
This society provides relief to distressed fishermen in the form of insurance, ambulance service, health care and financial assistance for the marriages of their children. Facilities of schools are also there but these facilities are under-utilised.
Probably this is one of the most neglected sectors of economic activity of Pakistan where the manpower comes from the poorest section of the society and earns for some of the richest people of the country. These fishermen come from the traditional coastline population that has lived on fishing for centuries.
Those who are the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka have mingled themselves with them and work side by side. Many illegal immigrants have married off their daughters in the local fishermen families and have thus created acceptance and protection for themselves.
The illegal immigrants have managed to get computerised national identity cards instead of getting registration as aliens with the Aliens Registration Authority. These fishermen are not registered with FCS but the KFHA has granted them permission to work as fishermen.
On the occasion of World Population Day on July 11, 2005 (Monday) government and non-governmental organisations vowed to work for the betterment of less privileged people of Pakistan but none of them visited colonies where these poor live and breed.
The National Population Welfare Programme is now forty-two years old. In these forty-two years nothing has been done to educate the coastal population about the size of a family.
Probably this is one of those sectors of economic activity, which despite being labour-intensive is fast switching over to mechanised fishing. The change in the coastal environment has begun to deplete fish stock until now available within the approach of manually operated boats.
In times to come those fishermen who are dependent on these boats will have no other option than to either leave their ancestral profession or prepare themselves for mechanised deep-sea fishing. In both these circumstances these more than five million poor will need help.
The coastal population, it has been found, is more open to suggestions and prepared to accept change than those poor who live in urban areas and taking advantage of stolen power supply, water and forcefully occupied land.
The coastal population knows what it means when one doesn't get potable water, food after day's hard work, medical care when ill and inadequate shelter when it rains heavily.
They want their children to go to school and prepare for a better future. They want their health to improve. They want a neat and clean environment for their children to grow in.
Women want better MCH facilities and a comprehensive health care programme that may bring about overall improvement in their lives. Women in the fishermen colonies are more alive to health needs than those who live in urban areas and care little about the freely available health care services for themselves and for their children.
The family planning department and the NGOs involved in family planning work can make a success in fishermen colonies, as there exists unmet need and a receptive population.
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