Pakistan’s marine wealth is getting depleted steadily, and with alarming rapidity. For all that, the country is not getting richer in terms of foreign exchange through this means nor is fish available in plenty to the domestic consumers who are urged to eat more fish for better health. Nor are the fishermen happy and better off for that.

Realistic-to-grandiose schemes had been brought out to save the marine life along the 1,050 km cost line, including 300 km around Karachi. And they include a billion dollar export target in place of the under $200 million export performance with foreign collaboration. But such schemes had vanished in thin air, while the fishing industry crawls in the old manner with marginal innovations by some enterprising men in the industry.

As a result even the official Economic Survey has given up mentioning marine farming and output as well as export as it comes very low in the export ladder.

The fishermen prefer to blame the foreign trawlers operating in the deep sea which encroach into the coastal waters of the country as well, while the trawler-men blame the men in the fishing industry for not showing enough initiative or organizing the industry better.

Constant over-fishing in the coastal waters is said to have depleted the fish stock by over 70 per cent. In other regions of the world even whales have vanished from several areas and hence special protective measures have become imperative.

To add to that menace, heavy marine pollution in the coastal regions of Karachi has deprived the country of much of its lobsters, prawn, shrimps, crabs etc. Much of the industrial waste of the city with its heavy acids is being pumped into the sea and that destroys the marine life found in shallow waters. Shell fish, crabs in particular, are quick to be infected by such pollution, making their consumption too hazardous.

Instead of the big, red lobster you used to get in the city at reasonable prices you get small lobsters which are black and the prawns are thin and long. And you pay stiff prices.

Recently the export of lobsters and prawns got a big push as the export from China, Korea, etc, was suspended following the fears of SARS but that is a passing gain and not a lasting benefit.

The commencement of the use of Korangi Fish Harbour for export of fish was hoped to increase the exports in a big way. But that has not come to pass as the malady which the industry suffers from is much deeper and far wider.

The worst crime committed by fishermen is fishing during the off or breeding season which bars the new crop from coming up. The fishermen were expected to stop fishing only for the two months of the breeding season. But pleading poverty and starvation as the main reasons they made the ban go. The ministers relented and let go the useful ban, which all enlightened elements in the industry supported.

The second offence is using fish destroying nets with small holes through which the very small fish can’t escape.

The third damage done to the industry is while transferring the fish from boats to containers at various stages. Bad storage also affects fish. The after-catch technology needs a great deal of improvement. A few have tried that profitably for themselves and the industry, but not many. Aid agencies have also been helpful in this regard; but not many in the industry have the patience to benefit by such schemes.

The new Minister for Fisheries and Livestock, Sardar Manzoor Ali Panhwar, says the government is banning three kinds of injurious nets - Katra, Gujjo and Bholo. An ordinance for that purpose will be promulgated within a month, prescribing jail sentence of three years and a fine of Rs100,000 for violators of the law. The government would seek the assistance of the Mari-time Security until the Sindh government is able to set up its own force to patrol and monitor the use of illegal nets. The punishment is severe and fine heavy, and should work if properly enforced. But let us see how it works as other strong laws had failed in the past.

Sindh has 300,000 men directly involved in fishing and 400,000 working in the ancillary industries. A number of them are Bengalis skilled in the trade.

For a country with a coast line of 1,050 km, Pakistan’s fish catch and exports are small. Some 20 years ago we were the 28th in the table of fishing nations, but now we have come way down. Look at the performance of Ireland or South Korea. Our export earnings are under $200 million, and we are slipping down the ladder all the time. We have done serious damage to the industry at every stage - from catching and processing to exporting.

Popular varieties of fish have become scarce and too costly they are missing from most of the dinners in the city. This is happening at a time when the people are exhorted by health experts to eat more fish to avoid heart ailments, blood pressure, etc.

The people dread to eat crabs which they once loved. fear of contamination is excessive, if not totally real.

Some 20 years ago even senior retired officials entered the fishing industry because of the lure of large profits. Later they found the trade too vicious.

The situation needs a realistic approach. Blaming the foreign trawlers alone will not do. We have to go out of the coastal waters instead of staying well within or using only a part of that.

What matters is not the ambitious or radical plans but their implementation or enforcement in the face of resistance from short sighted fishermen.

Sometime ago a board in the Sindh government to develop the fishing industry was proposed but that has not come to pass. Fishing in Sindh is a history of abandoned plans and violated schemes, and now a tussle with Balochistan.

It is not enough if such scheme are dropped from the skies. They should be explained in full to the people and the affected fishermen helped to soften the blow.