Over-fishing spells more poverty for island dwellers

HYDERABAD: Over-fishing in the creeks of Sindh has not only disturbed the migration route of many commercial fish species that move to deeper waters around this time of the year, but also rendered the distant island dwellers jobless as fish stalks dwindle to critical levels.

Strong northerly winds usually start mid December and end up till January 15 or January 20. However, this year, late winters disturbed the routine and the air currents started in the first week of January, delaying the migration of fish as well.

Elderly fishermen term these seasonal cold waves beneficial for cleaning the sea, as everything settles down at the bottom. Cold waves affect surface water, pushing marine life to move to deep waters, where the temperature is much better. Community people call it a 40-day season.

During this season, not only do the fish become inactive, the ocean stays calm with clean water, while the high tides phenomenon also changes the behaviour of the marine waters. Community people from Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, and the coast of Karachi report of varying practices from each region.

While the elderly fishermen at the coast suggest practicing restrain during this season, many influential people continue to exploit the already dwindling resources at the creeks commercially, hurting the traditional fisher folk living on distant islands in the Arabian Sea.

Majeed Motani, a senior fisherman, said, “Sea needs rest, and fishing must be stopped for some days during this natural phenomenon. The community must practice restrain during this season to protect the resources for future generations.”

As the fish stalks dwindle in the sea, activists accuse the influential people in the coastal areas - especially those harvesting fishing nets around the creeks - of ruining the marine fishing prospects of the poor communities.

Activists agree that fish stalks have dwindled around the coasts of both Sindh and Baluchistan due to pollution, rising sea temperature, acidification, as well as commercial over-fishing.

Commercial fishing blocks the migratory route of fish that are leaving the mouths of the rivers via creeks to reach the deep waters of the Arabian Sea. If that were not the case, island dwellers would still have been able to catch some fish and continue with their traditional activities, activists said.

They claim that the only fish available in the coastal markets these days have been netted from the creeks, where influential people have put up nets to catch fish that are moving to deeper waters for avoiding cold.

Now, hardly a few boats move out to the sea for a catch, while a majority remains anchored at the traditional jetties. Fishermen can be seen repairing nets or working on their boats.

The accurate data of fishing boats with all categories are not available, but boats registered with the Karachi Fish Harbour are 2,769. Out of which only 1,350 fishing boats are in operation. 

The community elders contradict the data and say there is no mechanism of allotting correct serial tag numbers during registration. Looking at hundreds of traditional landing sites along the entire provincial coast, several boats are either out of use, or do not even exist anymore, but their number is in the counting.