KARACHI: The Sindh government has lifted a seasonal month-long ban on catching shrimps and other fish species in the territorial waters of the province, allowing fishermen to sail their boats from August 1. The ban is imposed every year between June 1 and July 31, as the period is believed to be the breeding season of fish, especially shrimps. The ban is mostly for catching shrimps but it includes fishing too as shrimps get caught in fishing nets. However, this year the government imposed only a month-long ban on fishing as the ban hurts livelihood of fishermen. Industry officials said the government always fails to completely implement its announced ban. “Actually the most of the big boat owners are not fishermen and they force the government to lift the ban as they feel their business is being hurt,” said Shaukat Hussain, Chairman Marine Fisheries Department. “Fisheries sector needs to adopt aqua culture policy to sustain our industry and reduce the pressure on marine resources.” He said allowing fishing in the ban season is destroying the marine life. “Because of these unethical practices, the lobsters were almost 99 percent extinct in the Karachi coastal belt,” Hussain added. Meanwhile, a ceremony for the start of new fishing season was held at the premises of Karachi fisheries harbour on Saturday. During the gathering, fishing permits were also given to new boat owners and fishermen. General Manager Fishermen Cooperative Society Haji Wali Muhammad said the fishermen are never happy with the ban, as catching fishes is their only livelihood and they face hardships. “With the beginning of the catching season they will again earn income,” Muhammad said. Fish exports are growing since 2013 when the European Union lifted a six-year-old ban on import from Pakistan to EU member countries. Pakistan’s seafood export also noted significant increase to China, UAE, Thailand, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in recent years. The exports of fish and fish preparations fell by 6.55 percent during the fiscal year ended June 30 as compared to the exports of the commodity during the corresponding period of last year. Pakistan exported seafood products of worth $349.56 million in July-June (2014-15) compared to the exports of $369.46 million in July-June (2013-14), according to the latest data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In terms of Pakistani rupee, the fish exports fell by 6.48 percent to Rs35.46 billion during the period under review. Pakistan exported 140, 639 tons of seafood during the last fiscal year.
