By our correspondent 

KARACHI: Sindh Fisheries Minister Zahid Hussain Bhurgri warned on Friday the provincial government would take strict action against use of illegal fishing nets after Eid.

 

He was speaking to media persons at the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS) Hall after a visit of Competitiveness Support Fund officials to the Karachi Fish Harbour.The CSF is a joint venture between the Ministry of Finance and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). CSF CEO Arthur Beyhan also visited the harbour.

 

The CSF is working with the Sindh government to develop infrastructure at the fish harbour after Pakistan seafood exports were banned by the European Union.The visit of CSF officials comes before the trip of an EU mission. The EU visit was scheduled for November 16, but due to Eid and Christmas it has been postponed till January next year.

 

Bhurgri said the country was losing Rs2 billion in seafood exports every year since the EU slapped the ban three years ago. “The fisheries sector was neglected by the previous government.”

 

He said under EU requirements 117 boats had been modified with 75 per cent funding by the Sindh government totalling Rs560 million. In order to promote fresh water fishing and help poor fishermen, he said the contract system had been abolished. Fishermen had been exempted from licence fee and they would be issued Shaheed Benazir Bhutto cards which would make them eligible to do fishing, he added.

 

The minister said exchange of detained fishermen with India became complicated after Mumbai attacks in November last year. Still, 187 Pakistani fishermen were languishing in Indian jails.

 

CSF CEO Arthur Beyhan said they were satisfied with the improvement at the harbour over the last two years. He said Pakistan’s seafood market was worth around $1.2 billion and fishing provided livelihood for around one million people.

 

He said per capita consumption of fish was 15 kg a year in the world but it was only 2.5 kg in Pakistan, thus there was a huge market of seafood within Pakistan itself. Beyhan said they had recommended reforms in Karachi Fish Harbour Authority management and rehabilitation of physical structure and a lot of work had been done on both suggestions which were good signs. He said Pakistan should not look for exports to the EU only but improvement of the harbour was also good for the country itself.