KARACHI, Nov 1: Over 100,000 fishermen on Thursday went on strike for an indefinite period after they were barred from heading for the open sea by the authorities for not installing storage tanks in their boats as recommended by the European Union.

According to a spokesman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), the Fish Harbour Authority had asked the fishermen to install the tanks if they wished to go fishing.

The Fish Harbour Authority had last month warned the fishermen that those who failed to install storage tanks in their boats by Oct 31 would not be allowed to go fishing from Nov 1.

PFF officials said the harbour authorities had called in the Rangers and police and handed over the security of the area to them, who stopped the fishermen on 5,000 boats from proceeding to the sea.

The fishermen staged a sit-in and were later dispersed by the security officials. The hide-and-seek between the fishermen and the security officials in the area continued all day.

The PFF said the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority had cancelled the licences of all the fishermen and announced that new licences would be issued only to those fishermen who fixed the prescribed storage tanks in their boats.

A PFF spokesman said that the authorities had opted for coercive measures instead of settling the matter through negotiations with the fishermen and boat owners.