KARACHI, Dec 19: The speakers at a meeting on Thursday demanded that the licenses issued for the deep-sea-fishing to the foreign trawlers be cancelled immediately.

They were speaking at the meeting held after the conclusion of a walk organized jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Labour Watch Asia, in connection with the International Migrants Day.

They alleged that these trawlers were violating the prescribed zones and were encroaching upon the zones reserved for the small fishermen.

They said that the foreign trawlers were fitted with state of the art equipment and caught a large quantity of fish so the catch of the small fishermen had declined over the years.

They criticised the government for again issuing the licences to after cancelling these some time back.

They also said that the issue would be raised in the Sindh Assembly so that these could be solved on priority basis.

Sindh Assembly member Mahmood Alam Jamote, ex-MPA, Shafi Mohammad Jamote, Mohammad Ali Shah of the Fisherfolk Forum and others spoke on the occasion.

Earlier they led the walk participated by a large number of people.

After the walk a free medical camp was also organized and over 1,000 members of the fishing community were examined and provided medicines. The doctors also found out that diseases like tuberculosis, respiratory tract ailments, skin diseases, and stomach disorders were rampant among the community.