KARACHI, Feb 1: Top priority should be given to provide for the basic needs of fisherfolk community while framing the new fisheries policy.

This was stated by Mohammad Haroon, a community leader of Mubarak Village.

The fisherfolk communities number about five million people, and are among the poorest and most deprived segment of the country, he added. He expressed concern over the fisherfolk community’s plight saying it had always lived in abject poverty.

He said theirs was a community deprived of all basic amenities. Despite this they had always contributed to the exchequer.

He claimed no government had seriously tried to resolve their problems He said various factors hampered fishermen earning a decent livelihood.

The destruction of mangroves and the pollution caused by untreated municipal waste going into the sea, operation of deep-sea trawlers, use of soft nets in creeks were responsible for poor catches.

Mr Haroon said the depleting fish quality was due to its unsustainable exploitation and lopsided development policies of the authorities. He urged the government to protect their livelihood and adopt a sustainable policy. He also demanded that the government bring positive changes in the fisherfolk’s socio-economic conditions. He demanded that schools, hospitals and other infrastructure be provided in fisherfolk communities.

He also insisted that the government accept the restoration of ownership rights of the communities on their traditional resources of the coastal as well as inland waters.