The Fishermen Co-operative Society (FCS) has demanded of the Federal government to immediately ban the foreign deep-sea trawlers, which are not only adversely affecting the local fishermen but also pushing the fisheries industry in financial crisis.
FCS Director Haji Mohammad Younas, Former Union Council Nazim of an old fishermen locality Khadda Rafiq Suleman and others in a joint statement on Tuesday deplored that at one hand, the catching of fish and shrimp in June and July was banned for local fishermen.
Whereas, deep-sea fishing trawlers were free to catch the fish and shrimp by using the nets, which had been banned for local fishermen during that period, he added.
"These trawlers are shifting the marine products to same, standing at Manora to shift it outside," they pointed out and alleged that Marine Fisheries Department, Sindh Fisheries and other agencies were not taking any action to stop it, which showed that it was going in connivance with those departments.
They feared the practice was not only rendering the local fishermen jobless but also posed threat for closing of local fishery industry, adding those foreign trawlers had emptied the Korean Sea some time back and now were hatching conspiracy to do the same with our sea.
"There is strong resentment prevailing among the local fishermen about these trawlers and if corrective steps were not taken, they would take to street," they added.
They appealed to the President and the Prime Minister to order investigations in that matter and impose a ban on those trawlers as well as cancel the licenses, which had been issued to them.