SANGHAR, May 5: Hundreds of fishermen, including women and children, stopped traffic on the Sanghar-Shahdadpur Road for more than three hours on Thursday to protest against the auction of fishing rights for the Chotiyarioon reservoir, Kakahoo, Kalangor and other freshwater lakes in the district.

The district police officer and the DCO among other officials tried for a couple of hours to persuade the protesters to end the blockade.

They, however, agreed to end their protest after the district nazim and officials from the fisheries department assured them that there would be no auction for fishing rights.

Later, the protesters’ representatives Pir Bux Mallah, Asadullah Mallah and Ramzan Mallah held talks at the nazim’s office with the nazim, DPO Ajmal Magsi, DCO Allah Ditto Shar, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department Nasrullah Larik, who is also chairman of the auction committee.

After the talks it was decided that Thursday’s auction as

well as those fixed on May 11 and 18 would stand postponed, and the fishing rights for freshwater lakes in Shanghar would go to auction only if the fishing rights for Keenjhar and Manchhar lakes too were auctioned.

Pir Bux Mallah and others told newsmen there were five large freshwater lakes in the province but no auction for fishing rights had been called for four other lakes.

They claimed that the contractors paid them Rs30 per kg for the fish which was valued at Rs100 per kg, and demanded licensing system for fishing.

They said that more than 15,000 families of the district were dependant on fishing for a living.