Fishing industry caught in policy net

KARACHI: Seafood exports, already down by 11.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2018-19, may drop further as trawlers and other boat owners have stopped going for fresh catch of fish and shrimps. At issue is their opposition to the Deep Sea Fishing Licensing Policy 2018.

“We are currently dependent on the arrival of boats and trawlers which are returning to the harbour. Otherwise none of the boat owners are going for fresh catch,” said President Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association (PFEA), Syed Akhlaq Hussain Abidi.

Out of the 2,000 fishing trawlers, some 20-30 are now in the high seas. These vessels are scheduled to arrive in a day or two. Fish landing has fallen by 20-25 per cent from October till date, Mr Abidi claimed.

Seafood exports plunge 11pc to $67m in first quarter of FY19

Trawler owners are not going for fishing due to fear as Maritime Securities Agency (MSA) had also started implementing the new deep sea policy. One fishing trawler was arrested on October 13 while returning to Karachi harbour despite valid fishing permits from the Sindh government and Custom’s Port clearance. The matter is in court.

Country’s fish exports plunged to 28,185 tonnes ($67 million) versus 29,544 tonnes valuing $76m in same period last fiscal.

Mr Abidi alleged that the new policy is ambiguous about the requirements of seaworthiness and procedures for licensing in Zone-3 for local boats. “Simplified rules must be made and time to apply for licence should not close until announced number of boats have received the licence. These must be working boats and no fake licences be given to non-existent boats,” he added.

He suggested that mid-water trawling for 12-35 miles zone while Buffer zone must stay till 35 miles as before.

Patron Sindh Trawlers and Fisherman Association (Stofa), Sarwar Siddiqui said STOFA, PFEA and Fishermen Cooperative Society have moved to the Sindh High Court against the deep sea fishing licensing policy. The hearing is scheduled for November 16.

Mr Siddiqui also claimed that landing of fish would almost come to a standstill in a couple of days as no new trawlers left for fishing in the past two weeks.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2018

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Comments (4) Closed

Lohpurush

Nov 11, 2018 11:42am

Can their be any price of life - be it man or creature.

Recommend 0

Crusoe

Nov 11, 2018 02:31pm

So if boats are unsafe to fish the government should still allow you to go fishing while if an incident happens then again blame government for inaction? Why can’t just upgrade the trawlers keeping safety of workers in mind instead of taking money up?

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M. Saeed

Nov 11, 2018 06:34pm

Sub standard boats are a big burden on the fishermen's security apparatus operated by the Government. If some untoward calamity happens, it is the Government that has to take rescue operations at huge costs and therefore, has to ensure no unsafe and unproductive ships go to the deep seas.

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mazHur

Nov 13, 2018 06:07am

Hardly the government has made any effort to save the lives of fishermen struck by bad luck in the sea. None of the fishing trawlers operates in isolation. Several of them fish at any fishing grounds and in case of any befallen calamity it is their neighbour fishermen who come to their rescue. The problem is that most trawlers do not carry life saving equipment and some which do are soon stripped off by pilferers. Also no modern fish finding sonar equipment is installed on fishing boats all of which are constructed of wood. These trawlers are not fit for plying in deep sea. At the most they can go 8-10 miles into the sea. Our EEZ is not being employed for any benefit. Due to this deep sea vessels have a holiday since 80's there by sweeping away our rich Marine fish resources and trading it through unfair trade practices. Corruption at the preventive custom clearing station house at the harbour is a chronic malaise and government has failed to check it. Every trawler leaving for cruise has to grease the palms of the preventive custom officials to get the port clearance. This preventive custom staff rarely takes out a physical check of the trawlers and the crew. All this and more is responsible for the poor condition of our fisheries sector and much much has to be done to uplift all aspects of this dilapidating national industry.

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