THATTA, April 22: About 400 fishermen, including women and children, took out a procession against the contract system and proposed auction of various wetlands of Sindh.

Chanting slogans against what they termed the victimisation of fishermen by the Sindh fisheries department, they were carrying banners and placards. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chairman Syed Mohammad Ali Shah led the protesters marching from the Edhi centre to the local press club.

The procession turned into a rally and staged a sit-in blocking the National Highway for one-and-a-half hour.

Speaking to protesters, Syed Mohammad Ali Shah, Gulab Shah, Shafi Mohammad Murghar and others said influential landlords of Sindh in connivance with fisheries department officials were hatching a conspiracy to grab the fishing resources of the province and deprive fishermen of their livelihood.

They said that on one hand the authorities deprived the fishermen of their fishing rights on over 130 wetlands of Sindh while on the other, they were not releasing water downstream Kotri for a couple of years. The situation had ruined the coastal belt and forced the local fishermen to starve, they added.