KARACHI, Jan 22: Fisheries officials in Karachi on Tuesday favoured a permanent and amicable settlement of a fishing dispute with Balochistan, inquiries show.

According to an order issued by the Balochistan Coastal Development Authority, Gwadar, on Sept 26, 2001, all outstation vessels/boats shall be charged a call fee ranging from Rs2,500 to Rs15,000 per trip to ports, beaches, harbour and anchorage along the Balochistan coast.

The order further adds: “A fee of Rs30,000 per trawler and Rs50,000 for wirenetter will be charged on month to month basis from those who are desirous of fishing in specified areas of Balochistan.”

A controversy brewed when the order was opposed by Karachi- based fishermen and some of the directors of the Fishermen Cooperative Society.

They were of the view that it would be tantamount to officialising the current practice of extortion of money by the”fisheries mafia” operating in both the provinces.

They demanded that the order be immediately withdrawn.

Recently, complaints about alleged charges of victimisation and extortion of money by the Balochistan fisheries officials have been received here.

Inquiry teams from that province also visited here to conduct probe into the charges, but results of these inquiries were never made public.

When contacted, chairman of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, Syed Tayyab Naqvi, said that efforts were being made to find an amicable settlement of the issue in the interests of the fishermen community of both the provinces.

Mr Naqvi said he was in favour of levying a yearly fee on Karachi-based trawlers for fishing on the Makran coast. He said it should be reasonable keeping in view the interest of small fishermen.

To a question, he said in his capacity as FCS chairman he had raised the issue on various official forums, and expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved soon.

Similar views were expressed by some other fisheries officials who emphasised the need for finding a permanent solution in the interest of fishing communities of both the provinces. The dispute over “unregulated fishing” on Makran coast has been there for almost three decades. Karachi-based trawler owners have always accused the Balochistan coastal authorities of victimisation and extortion of money. Fishermen in Balochistan claim that illegal fishing by sophisticated Karachi-based trawlers on the coast will destroy marine resources They say that a troubling number of fish stocks are either fully exploited or overexploited.

They have urged strict surveillance on the Makran coast by the coastal officers to inspect fishing vessels from other provinces, and action against those violating agreements on overfishing.