KARACHI, Feb 12: Speakers at a conference on Saturday urged the government to introduce a sustainable fisheries policy in the country and withdraw all anti-fisher folk policies.

The participants said that fishermen in Pakistan were facing the worst form of poverty and a vast majority of them were living below the poverty line.

They conference was organized on fisheries issues by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum at Morero Hall, Ibrahim Hyderi.

Fishermen attending the conference complained that the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) had deprived about 1,000 fishermen of Gizri Village of their livelihood.

These poor fishermen, whose only source of income is fishing, have been asked not to fish near the sea view beach because the DHA had purchased the land from the Revenue Department, they said.

They disclosed that during the past 50 years, about 100,000 hectares of mangrove forests had been destroyed. The rate of destruction of mangrove forest was quite high from 1975 to 1992 due to water shortage in the river Indus, they added.

The speakers felt that Pakistan had no fisheries policy despite the fact that it did need a sustainable policy that may lay the foundation of an ecologically responsible fishing.

That will allow fishing practice with precautionary steps for sustainability and enrichment of fishing stocks. To achieve this, institutional, social and economic reforms are required, they say.

However, now the government should initiate to prepare a fisheries policy without any further delay, he added.

The participants expressed their concern over grant of permission to multinational deep-sea trawlers in the coastal waters of Pakistan under the deep sea fishing policy.

They demanded the government to cancel the licenses of deep-sea trawlers and link the exports of fisheries with the sustainability of fisheries resources of the country.

The PFF leaders on the occasion also announced to launch a decisive struggle against deep-sea trawlers, destructive nets, marine pollution, illegal detention of fishermen, contract system and reduction of fresh water flow downstream Kotri.

Alexis Fossi, Project Officer, Architecture and Development, France, Mohammed Ali Shah, Chairman PFF, Tahira Ali, president women wing PFF, Rehan Ahmed, Lt-Commander Maritime Security Agency, Major Arif, President Fish Meal Owners Association, Haji Shafi Jamot of the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS), Mubarak Sungho, UC Nazim Gabo Put and other community members spoke on the occasion.—PPI