KARACHI, Jan 18: Speakers at a workshop on Friday stressed the need to form unity among different countries so that a regional collaboration could be developed and a joint strategy could be adopted in order to use regional natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Speaking on the second day of a three-day workshop on “A regional prospective for assuring sustainable marine resources” organised by the WWF and the European Union, they said that if joint strategies were not formed and implemented and resources were not used in a sustainable manner, soon these resources would be exhausted and everybody would be at a loss.

A visiting expert from neighbouring Iran, Farhad Kaymaram, a biology and stock assessment specialist, said that the marine stocks were declining. Speaking about the global status of fish stock with reference to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, he said that 53 per cent of the fish stocks were exploited.

He said that small-scale fisheries constituted a major part of the fishery sector and played a significant role in the sustainable livelihood for fishermen and poverty alleviation.

He called for co-management of marine resources, which included the involvement of community members, resource users and the government.

The WWF-UK’s Tuna manager, Denial Suddaby, said that the WWF smart fishing initiative had helped Pakistan start building cohesion while advocating and lobbying for transforming fisheries in the long run.

He said that through a series of sequential logical changes such as good stock management and mitigated environmental impact, etc, profitability could be increased.

His presentation also highlighted some key areas of concern in connection with the Indian Ocean.

A senior fisheries researcher from Iran, Tooraj Valinassab, said that there were some evidences, which were based on research cruises in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, that suggested that ecosystem was changing, especially the Persian Gulf, and some species like catfishes, ray fish, threadfin, bream, etc, had increased and some other species such as silver pomfret and snappers, etc, had decreased.

He said that many changes had occurred in marine species which could be considered a result of pollution, red tides, climate change and over-fishing.

He stressed on collection of scientific information and correct data for effective management of marine resources.

The project chief of Building Capacity on Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Areas of Pakistan (CCAP), Ali Dehlavi, said that changes in sea surface temperature might have both negative and positive impacts on fish population. He said that predator and prey populations across species, including zooplankton, had been affected.

Climate change could affect lifecycles of fish, including breeding and spawning, as well as volumes of fishermen’s catch, he said.

He said that factors affecting lifecycles and catch included changes in sea surface temperature, sea level, precipitation, and atmospheric temperature. He said that the CCAP project had already observed changes in the timing and duration of fishing seasons as reported by respondents in studies recently carried out in Jiwani, Keti Bunder, and Kharo Chan districts.

Later, four groups focusing on themes of conservation, policy matters, markets and governance were formed. The group members suggested that proper training of crewmen, implementation of laws, use of catch reduction devices, decrease in number of trawlers and release of treated sewage into the sea could play important role in conservation and sustainability of the marine resources.