KARACHI, June 20: A complete ban on the operations of foreign deep-sea trawlers in the country's maritime zone during the breeding season of fish (June and July) has been demanded again by the fishermen communities , living along Karachi coast.

Interviewed by DAWN, these fishermen urged the government to review its present deep-sea fishing policy and impose a complete ban on deep-sea fishing in the said months.

The fishermen said the operations of foreign trawlers proved disastrous for small fishermen's already fragile economy. The huge trawlers described as factory ships, they said, swept away a major chunk of fish catch from the deep-sea zone, sparing almost nothing for the small fishermen.

The small fishermen in Sindh and Balochistan have always termed the operations of trawlers highly disastrous for their economy. Supporting their argument, they attributed the recent downward trend in the fish catch to the deep-sea fishing by the foreign trawlers after lifting of a ban, earlier imposed by the military government.

The officials at the deep-sea trawlers deny the charge, saying that decline in the fish catch had nothing to do with the operations of their trawlers, as the operation zones for the two categories- small boats and big trawlers-were quite different.

Under the new deep-sea fishing policy, the maritime area of the country has been divided into three zones; Zone-I (between O and 12 nautical miles), Zone-II (between 12 and 35 nautical miles) and Zone-III (between 35 and 200 nautical miles), they said.

The fishing rights in Zone-I had been reserved for traditional small scale fishermen of Sindh and Balochistan, while Zone-II had been reserved for the operations of medium-sized vessels.

The small fishermen had always expressed their apprehension that the sophisticated medium-sized vessels would not only affect the economy of local fishermen, but would further burden the already polluted marine environment in the country's maritime limits.

They warned that such a policy would prove disastrous for the fishermen and their families in Sindh and Balochistan, comprising two million people. They have been urging the government not to allow the operations of deep-sea trawlers in the Zone-II (between 35 and 12 nautical miles).

Previously, the foreign trawlers were allowed only beyond 35 nautical miles of the shore. But the small fishermen had urged the government to impose a complete ban on the operations of deep-sea trawlers by cancelling their licences.

Though the government had imposed tougher penalties on violators of fishing zones, but the small fishermen always blamed the operators of deep-sea trawlers for various zone violations. The fishermen had urged the government to introduce an effective surveillance system for proper implementation of fishing zone limits.

Under the new deep-sea fishing policy, heavier penalties for violating the rules have been announced, besides mandatory installation of global positioning equipment, to ensure that the deep-sea fishing trawlers operate within their prescribed limits, so as to avoid any conflict with small-scale fishermen.

The surfacing of dispute on deep-sea fishing has perturbed the fisheries officials, who are presently occupied with other urgent issues, such as decline in fish catch.

However, the small fishermen of Sindh and Balochistan had opposed the decision of allowing the operations of big trawlers, arguing that these huge trawlers had been causing depletion of precious fish species and damaged the marine resources of the country.