KARACHI: If talking about a problem makes it go away, then the fisheries department certainly requires frequent gatherings where the multitude of problems it faces are debated on in detail and sustainable solutions brought to the table.

And this was apparently the aim of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), which organised an interactive dialogue on Monday to talk about the fisheries policies in Sindh and the amendments urgently required to uplift the department’s workings.

The findings of a scientific study conducted by senior researcher Ely Ercelan were presented to fishermen, MPAs, representatives from the fisheries department, as well as spokespersons for NGOs to generate debate on the existing legislation and regulations of the department and the kind of problems small-scale fishermen face regularly.

According to the organisers, a representative of the provincial government was also invited to join the dialogue. However, the MPA did not show up and so no insight from the government’s point of view was shared; information about what projects, if any, are in place to improve the state of small-scale fisheries and fishermen was missing from the dialogue as a result.

The aim of the study is to introduce improved structural changes that will help uplift the lives of fishermen in general, which have degenerated as a result of departmental incompetence, lack of political will, and vested interests aiming for large developmental projects all at the cost of livelihoods and the ecosystem.

PFF programme coordinator Mustafa said: “Loopholes in the law have led to major violations against fishermen. One of the most direct violations is of this indigenous community’s right to having an equal chance of fishing.”

This is usually done to protect large development projects or by dumping sewage and toxic waste into water bodies used for fishing. As legislation does not protect fishermen from being exploited, they tend to lose livelihoods as a result.

The PFF is a rights based advocacy group and the study it conducted stressed the need to harmonise the Sindh Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, 2015 with the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, which Pakistan has signed. Such adaptations should protect the rights of the fishermen who are facing deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country.

Some of the proposed amendments the study suggests are promoting the livelihood of small fisheries, empowering the fisher community, close checks on fishing overcapacity and overexploitation of resources, as well as analysing the impact of large development projects on the socio-economic conditions of small fishermen.

The ongoing criticism levelled against the fisheries department because of the widespread corruption it allegedly has indulged in for decades, was openly discussed by many at the meeting.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker Syed Hafizuddin was very forthright in his criticism of government bodies that have taken funds for the development of various departments but have done nothing. Fisheries, he said, was one of many such departments.

Shujauddin Qureshi from the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research spoke about the need to provide social security to fishermen as it was their basic right. Asad Iqbal Butt from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan took this thread forward citing examples of human rights violations fishermen have to face. “These men risk their lives every day for the sake of their families. Yet we are unable to help improve their situation primarily because of lack of political will,” he said.

According to Aslam Ansari, deputy director in the fisheries department, fishing exports of the country have slumped, and many factors such as overfishing were blamed for it. With most fishermen not following the annual two-month ban on fishing, large populations of fish are decimated and natural stocks as a result are unable to be replenished.

Mr Ansari spoke about how illegal fishing nets are still widely used that don’t have room for juvenile fish to escape. As a result, most of such catch is reduced to trash and this is an irreparable loss.

Dialogue, according to the PFF, is the only way out of the conundrum the fisheries department is faced with. Thus a sustainable provincial fisheries policy must be formulated and implemented by government bodies with the help of fishermen and the many bodies working to protect them.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2015

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