03 May 2004	Monday	12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

Pakistan's coastline of 1,050 km comprises two major lines: Sindh and Balochistan. The Sindh coast, about 350 km in length, extends from Karachi to the Indian border.

In Sindh, the continental shelf is vast and broad, extending to a distance of 110 km from the coast which is indented by a number of creeks and the Indus Delta.

The Delta- the region where the sweet waters of the Indus meet with the seawater had been among the eco-systems richest in the natural resources of fishing and agriculture in the past.

Built up by the discharge of large quantity of silt washed down the Indus ecosystem has been rich in nutrients that provide a nursery and an early feeding ground for many varieties of shrimp and fish.

The Indus which flows for about 1,800 miles within Pakistan territory could be considered as its economic lifeline. Arising at 5,100 meters elevation in the southwest Tibet, crossing from the east to west over to Ladakh in India, it enters Pakistan at Bagh-i-Darband in north western Baltistan.

Thus, 40 per cent of its watershed lies outside of Pakistan. The river forms unique delta eco-system along the Sindh coast, which is now fast loosing its original state.

The Indus Delta originally occupied an area of 600,000 hectares consisting of creeks, mudflats and forests between Karachi in the north and the Rann of Kutch in the south.

In all, there are 17 major creeks making up the 200 km mouth of the original delta with the sea. In fact, there are innumerable creeks of the Indus in the deltaic region, Manora being the extreme right in the west and Seer creek, the extreme left in the east.

Due to the reduced water-flow below Kotri, only Hajamaro and Kharak creeks now receive water from the Indus Delta and there is only one main outlet to the sea, the Khobar creek. The active delta is now only 10 per cent of its original area.

Mangroves: Mangroves forest in the Indus Delta was spread over some 700, 000 acres and was once the 6th largest forest of its kind in the world. Now it provides fuel in the shape of wood to approximately 120,000 people, forage to 16,000 camels and other products to 28,570 households. The forest owes its sustenance to nutrient-loaded silt in the estuaries. Mangroves also act as shield against active tidal erosion in the area.

The mangroves in the Indus Delta are predominately Avicennia marina. Four out of the original eight recorded species remain as such although Rhizophora mucronata has been re - introduced. There has been a significant reduction in mangroves cover (from around 263,000 ha in 1978 to around 158,500 ha in 1990 and more recently to only 80,000 ha according to a study by WWF-Pakistan).

Ecosystem and wildlife: Mangroves eco-system are considered to be important for many of the commercial species. Its total fish production is estimated to be about 350,000 tons.

Within the Indus Delta, the main catches are the small pelagics. In 1988 the landings from the creeks was estimated to be about 96,410 tons, but many other species rely upon the creeks as nursery grounds.

Threat: Unsustainable commercial pursuits have destroyed the very ecology of the river Indus resulting in an environmental disaster wherein human habitat has almost vanished as it keeps migrating.

The province of Punjab at the upstream started developing agriculture as for back in 1830 AD. The agriculture of lower riparian Sindh took an organized shape when the largest irrigation system of the world-the Lloyd Barrage- was constructed at Sukkur in 1932 AD.

Prior to 1830 AD, the flow of Indus water downstream Kotri barrage to the sea was 150 maf. By then, the Indus delta, as the western authors maintained, had grown as 'garden' area of Sindh. Today, such a quantum of water is not available even in the whole Indus river system. It ranges from 104 to 114 maf.

With complete stoppage of the fresh sweet water from the river to the sea, the ocean has started hitting back. The oceanic encroachment on the Sindh Coast has initiated the process of desertification in the fertile Indus valley.

The official figure of water flow downstream Kotri barrage in the year 2000 was 0.725 maf as against of 10 maf envisaged in the 1991 water accord while as per expert opining of the IUCN (International Union of Nature Conservation) at least 27 maf of water has to be released to the sea for preservation of the ecology of the tail end of the Indus river.

Pollution: Pollution is a major threat in the Karachi area, also affecting mangroves in particular and the sea life in general. Very large volumes of the untreated domestic sewage and industrial effluents flow through nullahs and rivers into the sea.

Of the nearly 300 million gallons per day (mgd) of freshwater consumed by Karachi, more than 70 per cent of domestic sewage and industrial effluents are dumped untreated into the sea.

In addition, much of the solid waste of Karachi ends up in the same nullahs and rivers, which carry sewage into the sea, because of municipal failure both in collection and disposal of solid waste. The port activities at Karachi and nearby Bin Qasim further pollute the sea.

The effects of pollution extend from degradation of breeding areas to poisoned stocks of adult fish. At the extreme, natural habitats can be virtually destroyed as in the surroundings of Baba and Bhit islands. In other ways, fisher-folk have to bear the burden of pollution.

Dredging is an annual feature in both Karachi and Bin Qasim ports. The resulting turbidity devastates marine life at both dredging and dumping sites. Since dumping is in the open sea, strong wave action necessitates additional subsequent dredging operations. Oil refineries and terminals are another source of pollution:

Destructive nets: The nets that are being used these days lead to reduced breeding. The non-indigenous fishermen such as Bengalis and Burmese use fine-mesh nets which cause damage to the breeding of fish. Traditional rules prohibited the use of Bholo Gujjo and Chapal Gujjo nets, to stop fish from dying and polluting the area, and to prevent catching of juvenile fish.

Foreign trawlers also pollute the sea. From their catch they select living big fish and throw away smaller dead fish back into the sea. Their nets pull in all sizes of fish, catching small varieties like Mangar and Dothar.

This hurts fish breeding. In a fortnight, one ship catches thousands of tons of fish. But then they keep only the selected fish, and throw the rest back. Since it is already dead, this wastage also wrecks the sea.

Even though the government has set limits, these trawlers fish wherever they like. Instead of staying beyond 35 miles, the trawlers fish as close as 10 miles. Sometimes they are hardly a mile away.

In Sindh, all marine pollution in territorial waters can be controlled through enforcement of the Sindh Fisheries Ordinance 1980, with necessary amendments to cover agricultural effluent.

Likewise in Balochistan, the Balochistan Sea Fisheries Ordinance 1971 may be amended to add a clause on marine pollution. For reducing local over-fishing in territorial waters, provincial laws are already quite comprehensive.

But the most important factor is the implementation of the laws of the land. Since landings of foreign trawlers take place at harbour located in provincial waters, provincial agencies can help control poaching in particular and over fishing in general. At the top, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 covers broad range of environment including the marine environment.

Provincial efforts for conservation and protection of fisher folk are likely to be far more effective when federal actions are complementary to provincial regulations. A more threatening 'deep sea fishing' policy has been recently amended in 2000. Under the amended version big trawlers have been allowed to fish within the previously declared buffer zone of 12 nautical miles.

This policy has serious implications on the community livelihoods. A recently conducted community consultation by Shirkatgah with the support of WWF-Pakistan has revealed that the coastal communities of Sindh and Balochistan have serious reservations on the deep sea fishing policy.