KARACHI, Feb 10: Speakers at a seminar on Friday pointed out that though the Arabian sea off the Pakistani coast was very rich in marine resources, but very little portion of these resources had been exploited.

They were speaking at a seminar on “Marine Environment 2006: assessment and management of coastal pollution in Pakistan” jointly organized by the University of Karachi, Scottish Association for Marine Sciences (SAMS) and the British Council.

The vice-chancellor of the Karachi University, Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza, Dr Ray Leakey of the SAMS, Marcus Gilbert of the British Council, Dr Javed Mustaquim, Dr Peerzada Jamal Siddiqui and others spoke.

The speakers expressed the hope that both the Karachi University and the SAMS by working together would benefit by sharing experiences and having access to each others resources and knowledge.

They said that Pakistan had a very long coast and its exclusive economic zone was rich in marine resources, but owing to the lack of knowledge these resources had not yet been fully exploited. They said that the country would progress greatly if the resources from the Arabian Sea were fully exploited.

The speakers however, said that the growing amount of pollution from land based sources that was entering the sea was posing a threat to the natural marine resources. They suggested that comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) of all projects as well as industrial units that had been established, or were being set up, be done.

They said that recently licenses had been given to some companies for oil exploration in the sea and it was important that these companies carried out the EIAs so that their operations did not harm the marine environment in general and marine resources in particular.

They said that uplift projects were necessary for progress of the country but these should not be carried out at the cost of harming other resources, but these should be implemented in an environment friendly way so that development could be done in a sustainable manner.

Later, certificates were also distributed among the participants of a course in marine environment.