KARACHI, Sept 9: An assembly of fishermen, largely attended by womenfolk on Monday, urged the government to frame a national fisheries policy protecting coastal resources and restoring the ownership rights of the communities.

Speakers criticized the current fisheries policy of the government, and termed it against national interests and those of the fishermen community.

They said the government’s export-oriented policy resulted in “large scale plundering of coastal resources,” and that there was lack of interest in the sustainability of fisheries resources.

The assembly impressed upon the government to put an end to atrocities being committed by the Rangers in the coastal areas of Badin.

It said that, “undue interference of (the) Rangers in (the) fishing business is causing great unrest among the fishermen in Badin, forcing them to adopt the course of agitation.”

The assembly opposed the ban imposed by the government on the use of traditional baskets (Challies) in the Karachi Fish Harbour, saying that this would deprive thousands of people from income generation in Sindh and Balochistan.

Organized by the Pakistan Fishermen Folk at the Karachi Press Club and presided over by PFF chairman Mohammad Ali Shah, the assembly urged the government to put a complete ban on deep-sea fishing and the use of fine nets — locally known as Bulla, Guja and Katra — in the coast areas of Sindh and the provision of basic amenities in the fisherfolk communities.

The speakers included Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, Yusuf Mustikhan, Karamat Butt, Dr Yusuf, Anwar Baloch and representatives of fishermen communities from Badin, Ibrahim Haidery, Baba and Bhit Islands, Mubarak Village and Lyari.

They also urged fishermen to elect those people in the forthcoming polls who were committed to serving them honestly.

Earlier, a large number of women from Lyari converged in front of the Karachi Press Club opposing the ban on the use traditional baskets at Karachi Harbour, saying that it would deprive thousands of womenfolk from their livelihood in Sindh and Balochistan.