BY USMAN KARIM
Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim on Saturday 22April 2007 announced to wind up contract system from fishing in sweet water including seawater across the province. Director General Pakistan Rangers’ Sindh Major General Javed Zia would be assigned to monitor quality of construction work. DG Pakistan Rangers’ Javed Zia said Pakistan Rangers’ would create good relations with local fishermen and ensure provision of basic facilities including medical, education, and potable water. He also announced jobs in Pakistan Rangers’. Earlier, Col. Talat, Col. Nadeem briefed the Chief Minister about work initiated at coastal belt. According to the bylaws of the country, fishermen are entitled to get the contract system and get involved in fishing activity, but the state has given full powers to the Rangers who have deprived fishermen of their rights, she said. Despite earning billions of rupees from the contract system they were not giving any money to the Sindh government, she claimed.
A fishing license system to fishermen would be introduced in Sindh, he told a public gathering held at coastal belt Zero Point near Ahmed Rajo.The federal food and agriculture ministry is understood to be busy drawing up a national fishery policy at a time when fish stocks in Pakistan’s seawaters are said to have already been depleted to a low level because of over exploitation by giant foreign trawlers. Saeed Baloch, secretary general of the Pakistan Fisher folk’s Forum, said the Rangers had confessed that they were engaged in the contract system in the district. It is totally commercial business, but unfortunately there is not any check and balance over the powerful forces and they are free to rob the fishermen,
Active fishermen report a reduction of 70-80 per cent in their average catch and the European Union has suspended its fish import from Pakistan from April 12 after hygienic conditions at the Karachi Fish Harbour were found to be too appalling.
Given this situation, local fishermen suspect that a move is afoot to federalise the entire marine fish business by bringing all the four fish harbours (two in Sindh and two in Balochistan) under the direct control of the federal food and agricultural ministry.
A senior official of the Planning Commission Mr. Aziz Qureshi is reported to be moving around the Karachi Fish Harbour and Korangi Fish Harbour in Sindh and Gawadar and Pasni in Balochistan to carry out a sort of survey.
All these four harbours are on the national grid”, Mr Qureshi responded from Islamabad on telephone to a question. He confirmed having surveyed all these harbours but refused to share his findings, which are to be submitted to the government. Business circles say that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was to visit either Karachi Fish Harbour or any other harbour from where he is likely to make some announcement in this regard. Business circles say that the proposed deal being offered by Islamabad will give inland fishing control to the provinces while seeking the federal government’s control over the marine fishing. Officials of the Marine fishing maintain that marine fishing in the deep sea waters is not only a business but also an activity of vital strategic importance and hence the need for constant monitoring and surveillance. The Director General of the Marine Fish Department, Commodore (retired) Raza is on record to having recommended induction of naval officers in management and regulation of fisheries. Under the present set up, the marine fish department and Korangi Harbour are under the control of the federal government while the Sindh government controls the Karachi Fish Harbour. The two fish harbours in Balochistan — Pasni and Gawadar — are under control of federal communications ministry and the Balochistan government. Recent media reports reveal that Sindh now seeks management control on Korangi Fish Harbour which since its commissioning in 1996, has not been operating at its optimum capacity. The issue under discussion between the Sindh and federal governments has added a political dimension. The marine fish department is the federal controlling authority and has been drawing attention of the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority and Sindh Fisheries towards the complaints of EU exporters since 1999. There were hollow assurances and nothing was done by way of compliance”, an official said who also pointed that a team of EU experts was here in January and made an on-the-spot surveys for three days before deciding to de-list 11 processing plants.
Fishermen Cooperative Society is another active player in the fish business with its about 12,000 members. Shafi Jamote, an MPA from Karachi East fishermen belt that stretches from Rehri to Bin Qasim and Ibrahim Hydri, is now its director who holds both-- the marine fish department and the Sindh Fisheries-- responsible for messing up the affairs with EU.
We are a society and not in a position to put pressures on our members to conform to certain standards”’ he said while pointing out that it is the responsibility of MFD and Fish Harbour authority to ensure that boats and trawlers conform to prescribed standards before they are allowed to go on a fishing trip. The Society, he claimed, takes all the cleanliness measures at the time of the delivery of catch. However, the area outside the auction hall is the responsibility of Karachi Harbour Authority, he maintains. While all three players have contributed in the deteriorating conditions at fisheries, the worst victims are the fishermen, who according to Jamote have become jobless. As many as 70 per cent out of 2,500 boats and trawlers are lying idle, he said.
As in agriculture, arthi (middlemen) is the lynchpin of agro products marketing, the moneylender is the person who controls, regulates and manipulates fish business. There are about three dozen powerful moneylenders or moles. An average fishing trip lasts from one or two weeks. Depending on the size of trawler or boat and number of crew, every trip requires short- term financing for purchasing fuel, food and ice. This ranges between Rs600–300, 000. The mole does not offer loan in cash but in supplies from the designated source, usually at inflated rates.
The historical books about Indus Civilization carry interesting stories about the sea pirates, holding sway in the coastal waters of Sindh, as well as the unruly coastal tribes involved in attacking merchant caravans and looting their belongings.
Even today these waters are as troubled as in the past. Same non-fisherfolk influential tribal have occupied a number of Indus Delta Creeks, which are considered as the nurseries for fish species. These influential persons have posted their armed persons at the mouth of these creeks from Korangi Creek near Karachi to Sir Creek near Indian Border.
These gunmen waste no time in shooting at the boats of common fishermen in case they try to fish in these creeks. These influential sea lords have developed their own method of exploiting the fishermen. Only such fishermen are allowed to catch fish, which toe their line.
According to their terms and conditions for fishing in their occupied areas such fishermen have to handover their fish- catch to these influential on less than the half of the market- price. These sea lords in their bid to exploit fishery resources have provided refuge to the illegal immigrants especially the fishermen from Bangladesh and Burma.
They are recruited as laborer on the launches on very cheap remuneration. The sea lords have also prepared small huts for those non-local fishermen. Each non-local fisherman is forced to pay Rs 700 per month for living in such huts under the armed vigilance of the guards of sea lords.
No police and other any agency even can dare to enter in the areas. Harmful nets, which uproot and completely destroy the fish habitats including juvenile fish, are being widely used in the ’occupied creeks’ by these illegal immigrants with the support of influential persons.
A number of local poor fishermen, having no boats and nets of their own, have also been hired by the sea-lords for fishing. The sea -lords usually take hold of the boats and nets of fishermen who mistakenly enter into their “occupied areas” for fishing. The sea lords then use these boats and nets through hired crew for fishing.
The boat or trawler owner gives his catch to the mole/lender. He weighs the catch and deducts 6.25 per cent levy. Of this, he retains 3.12 per cent while the rest goes to the Society. The mole decides the grading of the catch and regulates the auction. After all these deductions, the trawler or boat owner gets his share which is divided among his crew members under a prescribed formula.
Usually, fishermen are unable to service their debt to the mole. Most of the 700,000 fishermen are perpetually in debt to about three dozen moneylenders who also act as spokesmen of fishermen at various fora.
Relatively small in number and not organised, fishermen have not been able to get rid of Rangers on fishing rights. From 1977,to December 2004 when Rangers were asked to quit, they were controlling 22 such fishing centres in Sindh. The PFF, an NGO, managed to mobilise fishermen and political parties and finally in December 2004, the Rangers were asked to quit.
In these 28 years with Rangers controlled fishing, fishermen were subjected to harsh conditions. The fishing rights were auctioned but no account was ever given about the auction money. The fishermen were asked to share half of their catch with the auctioneer, even when the remaining half of the catch was to be sold to the auctioneer at his fixed price.
Abolition of contract and auction at more than 2,000 lakes and other fishing centres in Sindh has come as welcome news. Fishermen want to be registered and given licence to operate in a lake or fish centre rather than seek auctioneer permission to do their job. At least 200,000 to 300,000 fishermen are expected to benefit from the proposal.
To make matters worse, the federal government has opened its `exclusive economic zone”, extending it up to 200 miles for foreign giant trawlers. The federal food and agricultural ministry has been issuing licences to these giant trawlers described as floating industries”. “Since these transship at sea, the catch goes unreported” said an Asian Development Report in 2001. It said: the details of their numbers, catch, fishing methods and other parameters of their approach are difficult to obtain “. ’’.
``These trawlers came here a few years ago to get 55,000 tons of ribbon fish but in process gathered 400,000 tons of biomass of all varieties of other fish and animals. It was a trash and was thrown back in the sea’, M.A. Shah, Chairman of the Pakistan Fisher Folk (PFF)—an active NGO for fishermen rights- said.
Under the licence rules these trawlers should fish beyond 35 miles in sea to 200 miles. But these trawlers fish in shallow waters and damage small boats and their nets. Shah blamed these trawlers for depleting sea water fish stock.
But the director general of Marine Fish Department told Dawn that there were trackers and other modern tools that track the movement and position of the vessels. They deliver their catch at Korangi Fish Harbour.
Fish business leaders wonder as to why the federal government never took notice of the complaints of fishermen with small boats of being damaged by the intrusion of big trawlers within 35 miles and on occasions in 12 miles range also.
They are no creditable statistics on fisheries. A study of ADB reports that statistics prepared by the MFD were found to be “inaccurate’’ “made up in the room and “doubtful”. There is no accurate assessment of fish stocks and periodical surveys. The fishermen are not registered nor there is training programme for them. Fishing is butter and bread of about 700,000 fishermen.
The growing pollution of the seawater has also endangered the fish species. According to the community members in the past the seawater was so clean that it was called as “Blue waters”.
Even if some coin were thrown in the sea, the children would jump in the sea and bring the same coin back. Presently, not only the urban waste but also the industrial affluent are also thrown in the sea. About 300 million gallons urban sewerage are thrown in the coasts daily from Malir, Lyari, Bhains Colony, Landhi and Korangi sewerage channels.
Wastes from the Sindh Industrial trading estate (SITE) are brought via the Lyari River to the Manhora Channel. Industrial and domestic wastes from the Landhi Industrial trading Estate (LITE) including Korangi, outfall into the Malir River before being discharged on the tidal falls of Ghizri Creek and being passed through the adjoining creeks into the Arabian Sea.
In addition, Karachi Shipyard discharges considerable amounts of euphoric acid in its wastewater into the channel. There are also indications of heavy metal leaching from the Pakistan Steel Mills Plant at Port Qasim. Oil also frequently spills in the sea from the ships carrying oil. According to estimates about 37,000 tons of industrial waste are largely drained into sea daily.
Similarly, Indus delta creeks also receive agriculture affluent containing dangerous pesticide ingredients from two sources. The main source is Indus River it self. The second source of agriculture run off including pesticide and salt water is the drainage project Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBO).
Estimated quantity of affluent discharge from LBOD is 5200 cusec.Why army regime want to bring every thing,s under ferdal government , just to oppiont the a army officer or gernal as head of fishery department . Why army regime is doing that,s bringing choase in masses .Give the right to provinces to act according to their masses dnt impose urs own rule and regulation . Autonmoy to provinces is best option and will bring the close to the masses . just request to army go back to barrack and civilan rule come in power.
.ABOUT WRITER USMAN KARIM BASED IN LAHORE PAKISTAN [email protected]
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