Local fishermen have refused to comply with the government's new laws to install fishing nets to their boats with mesh size of 5.5 centimetres, as the official deadline will end on October 31. After the deadline expiration, Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) will undertake a clampdown on boats violating the fishing nets specification. However, fishermen agreed to harness their vessels with nets measuring 2.5-size to catch shrimp, which the government has also set.
"The government's nets specifications lack scientific research to define an exact measurement for meshes as experiments of testing nets on the sea have been improper," said President Native Islanders Fishermen Association (NIFA), Asif Bhatti. The government has set two different net sizes, as 5.5 centimetres for fishing and 2.5 centimetres for shrimp and asked the boat owners and fishermen to follow the fresh rules which have been evolved in consultations with all stakeholders.
However, now the fishermen resist the nets size specified for fishing and arguing that the government should reduce the mesh to 4 centimetres. "If the mesh of net-tail is broken on the sea then it will become open by 11 centimetres meaning all the big size fish will even also slip into sea back," he said.
He said the government's lacked scientific research on the fixing size for nets. He said the exact way of fixing net sizes should be made through researches of the developed world. "All species are different in sizes to catch and different species appear on the sea in different season and weathers," he said.
Bhatti said the main issue of fishermen or the government should not be nets as a first problem to solve. He said the government should rather start its drive to decrease the level of marine pollution and logging of mangroves in the sea," he said. He said the government's declared illegal nets are being used in creeks of the coastal area of Sindh where no action has been taken against the users. He lamented the government all focus stayed on Keamari's fishermen and all rules are also applied on them.
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