KARACHI, March 2: Tension gripped the Karachi Fish Harbour on Saturday when hundreds of fishermen converged at the harbour to mourn the death of a fisherman who was allegedly shot dead in the sea-waters of Balochistan.

As normal business activities remained suspended at the harbour, fish-catch worth millions of rupees could not be brought to the auction hall and remained laden on the boats. Besides, fishermen did not send their boats for fishing purpose.

The chairman of the Fishermen Cooperative Society had declared it a “day of mourning”.

Angry protesters took a round of the harbour raising slogans against the officials of Balochistan fisheries whom they squarely blamed for the tragic incident that took place between Jiwani and Gwadur.

Later, a meeting was held to condemn the tragic incident. The speakers urged the Balochistan government to nab the officials responsible for the killing and said they be awarded exemplary punishment.

Speakers also threatened to stop the operation of Balochistan- based trawlers in the coastal areas of Sindh and said fish-catch transported from Balochistan would not be allowed to be sold at the Karachi Fish Harbour.

They urged the Sindh government to impose a ban on the sale of fish-catch transported to Karachi Fish Harbour. They also demanded a ban on the operation of deep-sea fishing.

The speakers condemned the attitude of the Balochistan fisheries officials, saying despite the fact that licences had been issued to Karachi-based trawlers and extortion money was also paid to them, they were targeted by the levies and patrol teams of Balochistan.

Among the speakers included FCS vice-chairman Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote, directors Abu Zar, Saleem Deedak and Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum chief Mohammad Ali Shah.

A heavy police posse was deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

In September last, the Balochistan Coastal Development Authority at Gwadur had declared that all out-station vessels/boats shall be charged a call fee ranging between Rs 2,500 and Rs 15,000 per trip to ports, beaches, harbour, for anchorage along the Balochistan coast.

The order also imposed a fee of Rs 30,000 per trawler and Rs50,000 for wire-netters, charged on a month-to-month basis for fishing in specified areas of Balochistan.

The order was opposed by the Karachi-based fishermen and some of the directors of the Fishermen Cooperative Society had termed it a move to legalize the practice of extortion by the mafia operating in both the provinces. They demanded that it should be immediately withdrawn.

They favoured levying a reasonable yearly fee on Karachi-based trawlers for fishing in the Mekran coast keeping in view the interest of small fishermen.

Recently complaints about alleged charges of victimization and extortion by the Balochistan fisheries officials were received here.

Inquiry teams from the province had also visited the Karachi Fish Harbour to conduct a probe into alleged charges, but the outcome of these inquiries was not made public for reasons best known to these high officials.

The years old dispute between fishermen of Sindh and Balochistan over “illegal fishing” in Mekran coast still needs to be resolved.

The Karachi-based trawler owners have always accused the Balochistan coastal authorities of victimization and demanding extortion for fishing in Mekran coast.

However, Balochistan fishermen claimed that illegal fishing by the Karachi-based trawlers in the Mekran coast was causing destruction of marine resources.

They said: “a troubling number of fish stocks are either fully exploited or over-exploited and called for effective measures to end the organized crime.”

They also called for strict surveillance in the Mekran coast by coastal officers to inspect fishing vessels operating in the coast from other provinces, and to take action against those found intruding into the sea-waters.