KARACHI, Oct 17: The 22nd edition of The Karachi Offshore (TKO) Sportfishing Tournament concluded on Sunday evening at Agha’s Sportfishing on Allama Iqbal Road where angler Habibullah was declared TKO-2011 champion for catching a 17.5kg Cobia.

Ambreen Wajid became the lady angler champion for catching a 6.5kg Grouper while Areeb Wajid picked up the child angler champion’s award for catching a 3.75kg Grouper.

The day-long event commenced at the break of dawn with 57 anglers, including three lady anglers and five child anglers, aged between eight and 15, venturing out in 17 boats in search of trophy fish. Flags and scoring sheets along with the kits, T-shirts and caps were already handed out to the team captains after a tournament briefing on Saturday.

The main areas where the anglers scanned and searched for fish were Nancowry Shoal (Talar), Bauchamp Reef (Gund Boo), Churna Island, Hubco (Dil-i-Ram), Kaio Island (Chota Churna), Karamat ka Patthar, Hatat ka Patthar, Khadda and Kachani.

Soon after 7.00pm on Sunday, the anglers started reporting with their fish catch of different species of game fish that included Cobia, Mackerel, Grouper and Barracuda. Only fish over 2kg in weight qualified.

All the fish catch was weighed and identified by 9.30pm when the tournament was declared closed.

The prize distribution ceremony was held soon after with former director general of Marine Fisheries Pakistan Moazzam Khan, the chief guest on the occasion, giving away the trophies and certificates.

Moazzam appreciated the dedicated services of Aziz Agha and his organisation in promoting sportfishing. He said he was happy to see a healthy marine activity of sea fishing flourishing in the city despite the many handicaps and hurdles facing the fisheries department.

Tournament director Syed Aziz Agha strongly condemned the reclamation of wetlands and the wanton cutting down of mangroves by land grabbers and developers, the massive scale of illegal fish netting in the Sindh waters for over three decades by the greedy unethical commercial fishing boats and the sea pollution from massive scale sewage and untreated waste that is being dumped into the sea.

“The damage to the marine eco-system and food chain is phenomenal and some of it is irreparable. Some species of marine life and fish will soon become extinct,” he lamented.

The event was organised by Agha’s Sportfishing with Syed Aziz Agha as the tournament director and Farrukh Habib as secretary. The reporting desk was handled by Sabiha Agha and Musi Reza. The weighing committee comprised Riaz Hussain and Agha Badr. Shayan Agha handled the photography. Other committee members were Imran Agha, Mohammed Wasi, Asif Shaikh, Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Qamar.

TKO 2011 scorecard:

Tournament champion: Angler Habibullah of Team No 16 (17.5kg Cobia). Runners-up: Angler Liaquat Khan of Team No 3 (12.5kg Cobia). Third position: Angler Liaquat Khan of Team No 3 (11.75kg Cobia). Fish species category: Heaviest Cobia — weight: 17.5kg caught by angler Habibullah of Team No 16. Heaviest Mackerel — weight 10.25kg caught by angler Mujtaba Karim of Team No 7. Heaviest Grouper — weight 6.5kg caught by angler Ambreen Wajid of Team No 9. Heaviest Barracuda — weight 3.75kg caught by angler Ijlal Hussain of Team No 4. Other categories: Lady Angler Champion Trophy went to angler Ambreen Wajid for catching a 6.5kg Grouper. Child Angler Champion Trophy went to Areeb Wajid for catching a 3.75kg Grouper.