KARACHI, Nov 2: Tens of thousands of fishermen and workers at the Karachi Fish Harbour remained idle while an uneasy calm prevailed over the harbour on Friday, the second consecutive day the authorities did not issue fishermen NOCs allowing them to go fishing in the Arabian Sea.
Contingents of police and paramilitary Rangers had been deployed in and outside the premises of the harbour to avoid any possible law and order situation there.
The Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) stopped issuing fishing NOCs to some 5,000 boats after the latter failed to modify their vessels in accordance with the European Union’s requirements.
Reports flashed in the media on Friday said KFHA Managing Director Karim Bux Sarohi wrote a letter to the SHO Jackson police station requesting the deployment of extra police forces to handle any protest of the fishermen.
“The police are patrolling along with the Rangers, who have been there for the last four months on the request of the Sindh fisheries department for routine security purposes at the harbour,” a KFHA official said.
Officials said the customs authorities issue NOCs to the fishermen on the recommendation of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) and the KFHA.
A KFHA official said the fishermen were given sufficient time to modify their boats, especially the “fish hold,” after the EU had imposed a ban on the import of seafood from Pakistan last year. On the request of the fishermen community, the fisheries department had extended the deadline from Aug 31, 2007 to Oct 31.
Officials said the majority of the boats did not conform to the requirements. The deadline expired on Oct 31 and the KFHA stopped issuing NOCs for fishing boats thereafter.
The owners of some 450 — out of 5,000 — fishing boats have so far modified their vessels, but on Friday they too did not go fishing in protest against the action of the authorities against their fraternity.
Saami Memon, a spokesman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), said the authorities did not allow some 1,800 small boats, which had nothing to do with the import of seafood, to go fishing on Friday.
He said tens of thousands of workers at the harbour involved in the seafood support industries also remained idle on Friday and were not being allowed by the security officials to gather at one place fearing a possible law and order situation.
Former FCS vice-chairman Haji Wali Mohammad Jamote said the fishermen wanted a “guarantee” for higher prices for their catch if they modified their boats as the process involved a huge amount of money. “They are poor and need to borrow this amount on the assurance that they will repay this amount through higher prices for their catch,” he said.
He said the prices of seafood, including fish and shrimp, had not been increased for a decade while the prices of other commodities had gone up manifold.
He said the government had given an assurance that it would share 50 per cent of the modification cost with the boat owners.
Sources said a meeting between the high-ups of the KFHA, FCS and representatives from the fishermen community would be held on Saturday (today) to settle the issue.
KARACHI, Nov 2: Tens of thousands of fishermen and workers at the Karachi Fish Harbour remained idle while an uneasy calm prevailed over the harbour on Friday, the second consecutive day the authorities did not issue fishermen NOCs allowing them to go fishing in the Arabian Sea.
