QUETTA, June 6: Government should take steps for protecting marine life and seawater from being polluted in view of development along the coastline and construction of the Gwadar port, speakers at a seminar on Saturday demanded.

The seminar was organized by the Balochistan Environment Protection Agency in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to mark the World Environment Day. Balochistan EPA Director-General Abdul Jalil, Quetta IUCN chief Aslam Rao and others spoke on the occasion.

They said deaths and diseases caused by polluted coastal water cost the global economy $12.8 billion per annum and plastic waste killed up to a million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year.

Approximately 21 million barrels of oil ran into oceans each year, they said. They termed the coastline of Sindh and Balochistan the most productive marine ecosystem of the world and said its primary productivity was 10 times the average value of the world's oceans.

Balochistan Fisheries Deputy Secretary Mohammad Zeeshan said the province had 700km of the 1,100km coast of the country. He said 60 species of fish and 10 of shrimps, including the best in the world, were found in Balochistan.

"Balochistan produces 200,000 tons of fish per year, of which 80,000 tons are fished by trawlers from Sindh," he said. According to research, he said, there were offshore oil deposits in the province, which were still untapped.

He said 35 settlements were situated along the coast, of which Gawadar, Pasni and Ormara were the most important. He said seawater of Balochistan was pollution free due to absence of maritime navigation and industries along the coast.