April 30, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1428

The federal food and agriculture ministry is understood to be busy drawing up a national fishery policy at a time when fish stocks in Pakistan’s sea waters are said to have already been depleted to a low level because of over exploitation by giant foreign trawlers.

Active fishermen report a reduction of 70-80 per cent in their average catch and the European Union has suspended its fish import from Pakistan from April 12 after hygienic conditions at the Karachi Fish Harbour were found to be too appalling.

Given this situation, local fishermen suspect that a move is afoot to federalise the entire marine fish business by bringing all the four fish harbours (two in Sindh and two in Balochistan) under the direct control of the federal food and agricultural ministry.

A senior official of the Planning Commission Mr Aziz Qureshi is reported to be moving around the Karachi Fish Harbour and Korangi Fish Harbour in Sindh and Gawadar and Pasni in Balochistan to carry out a sort of survey.

``All these four harbours are on the national grid”, Mr Qureshi responded from Islamabad on telephone to a question. He confirmed having surveyed all these harbours but refused to share his findings which are to be submitted to the government. Business circles say that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was to visit either Karachi Fish Harbour or any other harbour from where he is likely to make some announcement in this regard.

Business circles say that the proposed deal being offered by Islamabad will give inland fishing control to the provinces while seeking the federal government’s control over the marine fishing. Officials of the Marine fishing maintain that marine fishing in the deep sea waters is not only a business but also an activity of vital strategic importance and hence the need for constant monitoring and surveillance. The Director General of the Marine Fish Department, Commodore (retired) Raza is on record to having recommended induction of naval officers in management and regulation of fisheries.

Under the present set up, the marine fish department and Korangi Harbour are under the control of the federal government while the Sindh government controls the Karachi Fish Harbour. The two fish harbours in Balochistan — Pasni and Gawadar — are under control of federal communications ministry and the Balochistan government. Recent media reports reveal that Sindh now seeks management control on Korangi Fish Harbour which since its commissioning in 1996, has not been operating at its optimum capacity. The issue under discussion between the Sindh and federal governments has added a political dimension. The marine fish department is the federal controlling authority and has been drawing attention of the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority and Sindh Fisheries towards the complaints of EU exporters since 1999.

``There were hollow assurances and nothing was done by way of compliance”, an official said who also pointed that a team of EU experts was here in January and made an on-the-spot surveys for three days before deciding to de-list 11 processing plants.

Fishermen Cooperative Society is another active player in the fish business with its about 12,000 members. Shafi Jamote, an MPA from Karachi East fishermen belt that stretches from Rehri to Bin Qasim and Ibrahim Hydri, is now its director who holds both-- the marine fish department and the Sindh Fisheries-- responsible for messing up the affairs with EU.

``We are a society and not in a position to put pressures on our members to conform to certain standards”’ he said while pointing out that it is the responsibility of MFD and Fish Harbour authority to ensure that boats and trawlers conform to prescribed standards before they are allowed to go on a fishing trip. The Society, he claimed, takes all the cleanliness measures at the time of the delivery of catch. However, the area outside the auction hall is the responsibility of Karachi Harbour Authority, he maintains.

While all three players have contributed in the deteriorating conditions at fisheries, the worst victims are the fishermen, who according to Jamote, have become jobless. ``As many as 70 per cent out of 2,500 boats and trawlers are lying idle, he said.

As in agriculture, arthi (middlemen) is the lynchpin of agro products marketing, the moneylender is the person who controls, regulates and manipulates fish business. There are about three dozen powerful moneylenders or moles. An average fishing trip lasts from one or two weeks. Depending on the size of trawler or boat and number of crew, every trip requires short- term financing for purchasing fuel, food and ice. This ranges between Rs600--300,000. The mole does not offer loan in cash but in supplies from the designated source, usually at inflated rates.

The boat or trawler owner gives his catch to the mole/lender. He weighs the catch and deducts 6.25 per cent levy. Of this, 3.12 per cent is retained by him while the rest goes to the Society. The mole decides the grading of the catch and regulates the auction. After all these deductions, the trawler or boat owner gets his share which is divided among his crew members under a prescribed formula.

Usually, fishermen are unable to service their debt to the mole. Most of the 700,000 fishermen are perpetually in debt to about three dozen moneylenders who also act as spokesmen of fishermen at various fora.

Relatively small in number and not organised, fishermen have not been able to get rid of Rangers on fishing rights. From 1977,to December 2004 when Rangers were asked to quit, they were controlling 22 such fishing centres in Sindh. The PFF, an NGO, managed to mobilise fishermen and political parties and finally in December 2004, the Rangers were asked to quit.

In these 28 years with Rangers controlled fishing, fishermen were subjected to harsh conditions. The fishing rights were auctioned but no account was ever given about the auction money. The fishermen were asked to share half of their catch with the auctioneer, even when the remaining half of the catch was to be sold to the auctioneer at his fixed price.

Abolition of contract and auction at more than 2,000 lakes and other fishing centres in Sindh has come as welcome news. Fishermen want to be registered and given licence to operate in a lake or fish centre rather than seek auctioneer permission to do their job. At least 200,000 to 300,000 fishermen are expected to benefit from the proposal.

To make matters worse, the federal government has opened its `exclusive economic zone”, extending it up to 200 miles for foreign giant trawlers. The federal food and agricultural ministry has been issuing licences to these giant trawlers described as ``floating industries”. “Since these transship at sea, the catch goes unreported” said an Asian Development Report in 2001. It said: `` the details of their numbers, catch, fishing methods and other parameters of their approach are difficult to obtain “. ’’.

``These trawlers came here a few years ago to get 55,000 tons of ribbon fish but in process gathered 400,000 tons of biomass of all varieties of other fish and animals. It was a trash and was thrown back in the sea’, M.A. Shah, Chairman of the Pakistan Fisher Folk (PFF)—an active NGO for fishermen rights- said.

Under the licence rules these trawlers should fish beyond 35 miles in sea to 200 miles. But these trawlers fish in shallow waters and damage small boats and their nets. Shah blamed these trawlers for depleting sea water fish stock.

But the director general of Marine Fish Department told Dawn that there were trackers and other modern tools that track the movement and position of the vessels. They deliver their catch at Korangi Fish Harbour.

Fish business leaders wonder as to why the federal government never took notice of the complaints of fishermen with small boats of being damaged by the intrusion of big trawlers within 35 miles and on occasions in 12 miles range also.

The are no creditable statistics on fisheries. A study of ADB reports that statistics prepared by the MFD were found to be “inaccurate’’ “made up in the room and “doubtful”. There is no accurate assessment of fish stocks and periodical surveys. The fishermen are not registered nor there is training programme for them. Fishing is butter and bread of about 700,000 fishermen.