WWF-Pakistan and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) signed Letter of Cooperation for management of fisheries in coastal and offshore waters of Pakistan. In this context, a signing ceremony was held at PMSA's headquarter, here on Wednesday. Rear Admiral Jamil Akhtar, DG PMSA and Hammad Naqi Khan, DG WWF-Pakistan signed this Letter of Cooperation.
This Letter of Cooperation supports the implementation of effective monitoring, control and surveillance measures to facilitate compliance of the tuna gillnet fisheries of Pakistan with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) requirements. Both organisations have agreed to cooperate in strengthening satellite based monitoring of the Pakistani fishing fleet operating in its Territorial Waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and in the Area Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ).
The Letter of Cooperation is aimed to supplement and strengthen the satellite based monitoring of the fishing vessels including the domestic fishing fleet through joint collaboration of PMSA and WWF-Pakistan. Under this Letter of Cooperation, WWF-Pakistan will provide automatic identification system and vessel monitoring systems for trial for installation on fishing vessels from Sindh and Balochistan to ensure effective monitoring, control and surveillance measures.-PR