January 30, 2002	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 15, 1422

KARACHI, Jan 29: Expressing concern over the present state of marine environment, speakers at a symposium urged the authorities to formulate policies and initiate actions for conservation and sustainable management of marine resources.

Experts from various public and private institutions discussed at large the impact of pollution on marine life and referred to the consequential damages done to fisheries, human health and socio-economic condition of people dependent on the marine resources.

The two-day symposium on “Marine Environment 2002 — Food, Health and Habitat” started at the British Council here on Tuesday. The programme is being organized jointly by the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology, University of Karachi, and the Scottish Association of Marine Science, UK, under the higher education links programme, while Britain’s Department for International Development has funded the project.

The vice chancellor, University of Karachi, Dr Zafar Saied Saify, speaking on the occasion, referred to the development of Science and Technology in the world and stressed the need for further enhancement of higher education in the country.

“Whether it is the question of coastal zone management, conservation of biological diversity, development of fisheries industry or oil and gas exploration in the coastal zone, promotion of research and marine sciences is inevitable,” he added.

He said marine food was an important resource for Pakistan as it had a huge impact on the economy, but at the same time, he said, man’s increasing activities along the coast posed a threat to the coastal environment and its inhabitants in the shape of pollution. He called for a coastal zone management on a priority basis.

The coordinator of the symposium, Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui, said the purpose of the higher education link was to increase the capacity to assess coastal pollution and manage coastal zone. The outcome of the link would eventually translate into a sustainable management of natural resources, improving the quality of people’s life and building partnership for development, he hoped.

In his address on “The Environmental Impact of Mariculture in the UK”, Dr Raymond Leakey of the Scottish Association, discussed the Atlantic salmon farming undertaken as a major industry in Scottish coastal waters. According to him, 70 million salmon produced every year at over 300 farms and 90 companies, while 6500 direct and indirect jobs were provided.

He pointed out that the salmons were reared at high densities within cages at sheltered coastal site, they were fed fish produced from wild fisheries and treated with a variety of chemicals to control diseases. “This regime led to a diverse array of physical, chemical and biological impacts on the local and global marine environment,” he added.

He said that with an impact of “ugly” fish farms and land- based structures, there were also blocking of navigation routes by fish f