As seafood exporters insisted that the ban on fishing should stay in place for two months, the Sindh government is said to have decided to reduce its duration to a month. Sources said that the Sindh government announced to ban fishing in the Arabian Sea in just July, instead of the previous prohibition for tw months -June and July.
A representative of seafood exporters, who attended a meeting of all fisheries stakeholders called by Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) to determine the exact duration of the ban in the province's territorial waters, disagreed with the government's decision and insisted on the ban should remain in place for two months.
The meeting was presided over by provincial Minister for Fisheries Zahid Ali Bhurgari. KFHA's Managing Director Abdul Ghani Jokhio, Deputy Director-General of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) Azir Mumtaz, a representative of the Pakistan Coast Guards (PCG), Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association attended the meeting. Representatives of the Fishermen Society, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Bona Fide Fishermen and Boat Owners' Welfare Association, Sindh Trawlers Owners' Association and mole holders also attended the meeting.
Sources said that representatives of the fishermen community called for effectively implementing the fishing ban for only a month. Fishermen also urged the government to enforce the ban on hazardous nets and control sea pollution. Expressing reservations over the reduction in the ban's duration, the vice-chairman of the PAKFEA said that his association had reservations over the move, adding that the ban stay for two months. Sindh Fisheries Minister Zahid Ali Bhurghari said: "Taking effective measures for the conservation of marine resources is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders."
He informed the meeting that 200 destructive nets had been burnt at the Karachi Fish Harbour, adding that the Sindh Fisheries Department had so far confiscated a total of 500 such nets. He added that the mesh size of the cod-end of nets would be finalised on April 12 in a meeting to be held in the office of the provincial secretary for livestock and fisheries. A notification, he said, would be issued in this regard.
He said that the MSA, PCG and local police would then be asked to take appropriate action against violators. He informed that efforts were under way to control pollution in co-ordination with the City District Government and Water Sewerage Board. He also asked Managing Director KFHA to hold a meeting with Sindh Forest Department, KPT, Environmental Protection Agency, Sindh Fisheries for conservation of mangroves which was the natural hatcheries for shrimps and other species.