THATTA: A large population of fishing community living on 27 small islands between Hajamiro creek and deltaic area along Arabian Sea in Thatta district are finding it increasingly difficult to make both ends meet because of closure of fish markets during ongoing province-wide lockdown.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chairman Mohammad Ali Shah told Dawn that fishing communities in coastal areas of Thatta, Badin, Sujawal, Karachi, Shah Bandar, Jaati, Kharo Chhaan and Golarchi were facing starvation since fish markets were closed and the catch was rotting in the absence of buyers.

Coastal Community Organisation chairman Ameer Bux Jatt said the situation for fishermen was getting from bad to worse with each passing day. The government should provide a reasonable relief package to the vulnerable community to help them survive the difficult times, he said.

Local fishermen leaders Aslam Jatt, Noor Jatt, Ghani Katyar and others said that hundreds of owners of fishing vessels had already sustained huge losses as they had brought catch from deep sea about 10 days back prior to imposition of lockdown and could not sell it off because of closure of fish markets in Karachi, Hyderabad and local towns.

They suggested that if the government allowed at least one fisherman with a crew member to run small boats for fishing, it would help them carry on with their life and they would not have to look for donation to feed their starving families.

They said that lately, it had already become very difficult for the community to survive due to fast shrinking catch caused by government’s ban on different types of fishing nets, special facilities extended to foreign deep-sea trawlers and lack of freshwater released downstream Kotri to rejuvenate mangrove forests which hosted nurseries of fish and shrimp.

They said that they realised that Pakistan was equally facing coronavirus catastrophe like the rest of the world and the government was taking adequate steps to overcome the virus. But the authorities should also feel misery of fishermen and help them make both ends meet during the growing humanitarian crisis.

Thatta Deputy Commissioner Usman Tanveer said that the ban on fishing in coastal areas had been imposed under recent directives of federal government.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2020