Working of Fisheries, Marines departments: National Assembly panel expresses dismay

National Assembly Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Wednesday expressed dismay over performance of Sindh Fisheries and Marine Fisheries Departments, as fish export has registered a massive decline in the past couple of years. Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, chairman of the panel, directed both the departments to resolve their departmental issues and send a report to the committee by October 25.
Briefing the committee members, Shaukat Hussain, Director General at Marine Fisheries Department, said the use of illegal nets and capturing of juvenile fish were the main hurdles in development of the department. "Fishermen capture under-sized fish from creek area that is causing economic loss to the country," he said, adding the panel should recommend an immediate ban on use of illegal nets and export of the juvenile fish.
More than 3,000 illegal nets are being used to catch the fish in different areas of Sindh that is harmful for marine life, he said. Hussain said that congestion on Karachi Fish Harbour was increasing with passage of time as Korangi Fish Harbour remains dysfunctional due to many technical reasons. "More than 15,000 fishermen have been using Karachi Fish Harbour and it's too much," he said.
He said that it is duty of the provincial government to prevent hunting of juvenile fish and use of illegal small nets in the sea and creeks. "The provincial government should also help us to remove illegal jetties established on different places, besides ensuring a complete ban on fish hunting in June and July," he said. Abdul Raheem Soomro, Secretary for Livestock and Fisheries Department, said that his department has been doing extensive raids and operations to prevent juvenile fish hunting.
He said that his department needs around Rs 2 billion for expansion of K1 and K2 auction halls in Karachi. "The construction of new halls is also pending due to financial constraints," he said. The federal government should hand over Karachi Fish Harbour to Sindh government as per the Constitution, he said, adding that "under the 18th Amendment, the fisheries department has been devolved to provinces."
Soomro said that his department could not pay last month salaries to its employees due to the financial crunch. "We have issues of over employment and frequent rise in salaries of the employees," he said, adding the federal government should provide funds to Sindh government from export revenue to stable the fisheries department. He said the department receives around Rs 180 million in revenue generation from Karachi Fish Harbour that is insufficient to run all the affairs.
Sultan Qamar Siddiqui, Vice Chairman Fishermen's Cooperative Society Ltd, said that his organisation charges 6.25 percent on the total income of each fisherman and spends sufficient funds for education and welfare of the fishermen families. He said that his organisation's total annual income was around Rs 200 million that is not even sufficient to pay salaries to the staff.