KARACHI, March 11: Over a decade old dispute over fishing rights between Sindh and Balochistan has surfaced again.

The representatives of the fishing communities in Karachi have urged the federal government to take up the matter seriously and find a permanent solution to the problem.

Maintaining that the issue had become a bitter source of conflict between the two fishing communities, they stressed that it was about time to take the issue seriously and resolve it in the interest of fishing communities of both the provinces.

They maintained that it was not for the first time that the fisheries officials of Balochistan had seized Karachi-based boats, imposed penalties and then auctioned their fish catch.

They accused the Balochistan fisheries officials of allowing illegal fishing in the water zone of the province after getting extortion money.

On the other hand, small fishermen of Balochistan consider the operation of the Karachi-based mechanized boats as a threat to their livelihood because of a large scale destruction of fish species caused by the trawlers in their water zone.

Several meetings were held in the past between the officials of the two provinces to find out an amicable solution but without any result.

Last year, the provincial government had created the Balochistan Fisheries’ Development Authority and decided to introduce a licensing system, by levying fees on the Karachi-based trawlers for fishing in the Mekran coast. But the issue could not be resolved permanently as trawler owners in Karachi have always accused the Balochistan fisheries officials of harassment and humiliation.

The reaction of representatives of the fishermen community in Karachi over the current seizure of their boats in the Mekran coast indicated that the issue was still causing ill will between the fishing communities of the two provinces.

Some time ago, the government had set up a national fisheries development board for solving problems being faced by the fisheries’ sector.

But it did not make any headway despite the fact that the issue figured in the board meeting many time.