KARACHI, April 21: Pakistan Fisher folk Forum (PFF) on Wednesday screened a documentary at Karachi Press Club (KPC), depicting the socio-economic problems being faced by the fishing community and concerns about their future.
The documentary which is based on the life a teenager of a local fishing family, Sabir, who sensing the profession of his ancestors as insecure vows not to become a fisherman.
The movie which focused on Korangi creek and the surrounding localities like Mubarak Basti and Ibrahim Haidri, actually narrates the story of at least 2 million people associated with this profession along the 150-kilometre Sindh-Balochistan coastal belt.
It was prepared by Pakistan Action Aid with cooperation of PFF to support the community mobilization. PFF Chairman Muhammad Ali Shah on the occasion called for a more comprehensive fishing policy wherein the fishing community is given their due representation.
Ten years ago there were 207,000 acres of magroves in the Indus delta whereas it has now been reduced to around 100,000 acres, he added. He said some local influentials encourage use of some restricted nets like Bulo, Gujjo and Katro, which originated from Bangladesh and were later banned here, allegedly for getting "bhatta" (extortion) from the users who are non-Pakistanis. -APP
