QUETTA, June 18: Fishermen of Gwadar demonstrated here on Sunday against licences issued to thousands of trawlers by the federal government for fishing along the coast of Balochistan.

About 200 fishermen who had assembled outside the press club, condemned illegal fishing by domestic and foreign trawlers off the province’s coast and demanded cancellation of the licences.

The protesters said the government would be responsible if the situation in the area took an adverse turn as a result of non-acceptance of their demands.

The leader of the opposition in the provincial assembly, Kachkol Ali Baloch, Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s parliamentary leader Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal and Balochistan National Party (Mengal) secretary-general Habib Jalib Baloch, supported fishermen’s demands at a press conference.

They claimed that the government had taken over 200,000 acres of land in Ormara to set up a cantonment. They said the plan would dislocate fishermen of the area.

Alleging that the government had permitted 5,000 foreign trawlers to fish in the area, they said the policy would result in lowering the fish catch along the 700km coast of the province.

They announced that the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement would launch a protest movement against illegal fishing in Gwadar and occupation of land in Ormara.