Fishermen, boat owners slam deep-sea fishing policy

The federal government's deep sea fishing policy 2018 outlining strict rules for hunting fish and shrimp has triggered resentment among fishermen and boat owners, who now plans a strike to stop catch landing. Talking to Business Recorder on Wednesday, fishermen and boat owners showed serious concerns over the policy that allocates three zones for the hunt. The policy divides the sea into three zones mainly facilitating the licensed holder fishermen and boat owners for deep sea fishing up to 200 nautical miles.
The non-licensee hunters will only be allowed to fishing within the 12 nautical miles that falls within the provincial government's jurisdiction.
The local fishermen and boat owners just want a free excess to deep sea without attaining any licence, as they have been doing for the last 70 years. They also opposed the trawling vessels to operate within the 200 nautical miles, fearing the hunt will cleanse the surface to seabed from marine species.
A leaflet distributed by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PSMA) at the fish harbour to inform the fishermen about the deep sea fishing, clearly detailing the three zones including: Zone-I stands up to 12 nautical miles, Zone-II from 12 nautical miles to 20 nautical miles and Zone-III up to 200 nautical miles. Zone-I is under Sindh government's authority, while Zone-II and Zone-III under the federal government's jurisdiction.
The PSMA's leaflet asked the fishermen to comply with the rules laid down by the policy and warned that violators will face a legal action. It said that fishermen belonging to Sindh and Balochistan have been provided with fishing in Zone-I and Zone-II but will have to take a licence from their respective governments to hunt fish and shrimp on the sea legally. For deep sea fishing, fishermen and boat owners will have to obtain license from the federal government.
However, the foreign trawlers have been allotted licences to hunt fish and shrimp in Zone-III, as they will not be permitted trawling into Zone-I and Zone-II.
The leaflet said that if any local fishermen or boat owners intend to hunt deep sea should follow the policy conditions that primarily include: A boat must be registered with Mercantile Marine Department, should have a fishing license from Marine Fisheries Department, all basic credential of fishermen should be in place before sailing deep sea, all the vessels should have vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed, all fishermen going for hunt should be Pakistani nationals. The PMSA will monitor fishing operations.