THE appearance of blooms of jellyfish does not bring good auguries for the national fisheries sector. Not only that the jellyfish are killers of fish eggs and small fish, they are a menace to our allover marine resources.

Regardless of their export price, which apparently looks lucrative to fishermen, the swarming jellyfish will ultimately devastate marine life before it sees the light of day.

It is time the government took action to probe the situation and find the reasons which lead jellyfish to bloom up at certain times of the year against the decline in catch of other highly- prized species of commercial fish.

Jelly fish was never a marine creature of commercial value until the Chinese came for it as a cheaper source for yet another delicacy. Jellyfish are 94 per cent water and are dried, salted and compressed and then reconstituted by soaking into water and served with vinegar and other sauces as a delicacy.

The sudden overgrowth of jellyfish in Pakistan’s waters should be a matter of concern and the fishery authorities must analyse factors leading to its growth, and control it without letting fish eggs and small fish eaten up by them to the loss of our already-dwindled marine resources.

MAZHAR BUTT Karachi