KARACHI, July 5: A number of non-governmental organizations representing Karachi-based fishermen have called for lifting ban on catch of fish and shrimps currently imposed in the coastal zone of Sindh on account of breeding season.

Terming the two-month seasonal ban controversial, they said every year the ban was imposed on the pretext of breeding season but it was yet to establish that June and July was a breeding season.

They wondered that the ban was imposed for small fishermen in the creeks of Sindh whereas no fishing ban was imposed on foreign trawlers in the deep waters of the country.

A meeting of these NGOs was held at Karachi’s oldest fishermen settlement Khadda to discuss the economic hardships being faced by the small fishermen as a result of the ban.

The meeting criticized the role of marine fisheries department saying that “it is engaged in hatching conspiracies to create an artificial crisis in the fisheries sector”.

The fishermen representatives called for banning the operation of foreign trawlers and held the factory ships responsible for destruction of valuable sea species and marine pollution. They also called for construction of shed on open jetties saying that extensive damage was caused to the fish species in the open jetties.

They urged that the ban on fine nets such as katra, boolo and gujjo should be implemented.

The meeting took a serious note of reports that harassment of fishermen at the hands of personnel of Karachi Port Trust, Coast Guards, Customs and some other agencies should be stopped. It also called for implementing the decisions of June 27th meeting held between the officials of Sindh government and the Fishermen Cooperative Society.

The provincial government was urged to call the Board of Directors meeting of FCS for electing a chairman and vice-chairman of the Society.

It expressed concern that the Board’s meeting had not been called so far despite the fact that 11 months had passed since the elections of Board of Directors.

It was decided that fishermen would hold rally on July 7 at Karachi Fish Harbour to highlight the problems of fishermen communities and other stake-holders including mole-holders in the fisheries sector.

In this regard, a five-member committee was constituted comprising two senior directors of the FCS Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, Haji Mohammad Yunis, besides Akhlaq Ahmed, Sarwar Siddiqui and Haji Ahmed as its members.