KARACHI, May 14: Fishermen communities living along the coast of Sindh, including Karachi, have urged the government to impose a ban on the operation of deep-sea trawlers, saying that operators of big trawlers would net every type of fish but often throw unwanted species back into sea, often dead or dying.

They destroy the huge stocks of unwanted fish because these are non-marketable species or of under-sized fish. The practice of disposing of the discarded fish stocks in the open sea causes widespread pollution, according to the fishermen communities, which indicated that the trawler operators would catch as much as they could but generally they would keep only the fish that could earn them big money.

They pointed out that the deep-sea trawler operators were suppose to confine their fishing operations with in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under certain terms and conditions, but practically they often violated their limits and resorted to intruding into the fishing areas reserved for small fishermen of coastal areas. Consequently, they not only deprive the local fishermen of their livelihood, but also cause considerable damage to marine resources and environment.

Having fully mechanised and computerised trawlers, these operators continue to violate the prescribed rules and snatch away local fishermen’s share in the country’s natural resources in the process of catching million of tons of fish using extra-large nets. Moreover, they operate day and night in a single fishing trip, virtually leaving nothing in the sea for small fisherman to catch.

The fishermen communities said that this over-fishing activity was not only damaging for a sustainable fishing leading to the depletion of various fish species but also unethical.

Expressing concern at the rampant over-fishing, they said that the fast-depleting fish resources had rendered fishermen communities almost without a livelihood.

They maintained that owing to a remarkably reduced fish and shrimp catch, the local fishermen’s earnings had dwindled to a great extent.