KARACHI: Fishing activities in Pakistan waters are expected to resume by Sunday (today) after the ceasefire announcement by Pakistan and India on Saturday.

Earlier, in response to the escalating tensions with India, the Pakistani authorities had imposed a temporary ban on fishing activities in the country’s territorial waters.

As a precautionary measure, all fishing boats and trawlers that were already at sea had been ordered to return to shore.

All the three major ports — Karachi, Port Qasim, and Gwadar — saw the tightening of security as fishermen were urged to avoid venturing into the sea during high alert there.

According to Saeed Baloch of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), “Now that things have calmed down and there is ceasefire from both sides, the poor fisherfolk can also think about going back to earning their honest livelihood,” he said, adding that hopefully they will get the go-ahead from the government by Sunday morning.

“There is a certificate required now. The Port Clearance Certificate is a formality we look forward to receiving by Sunday to be able to resume our regular fishing activity. It officially opens the sea for us,” he added.

He said on Friday they had been informed that it was okay to head out to sea. “But after the fresh attacks last night we had the good sense to not head out into the sea,” said Mr Baloch.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2025