The speakers at a workshop to observe World Fisheries Day highlighted and analysed the issues and formulation of strategy towards sustainable resource development and management of the marine fisheries sector of Pakistan.
Paul Fanning of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)and adviser to government of Pakistan, besides additional Secretary Fisheries Waheed Ahmed, shared information with the participants.
The aim of the workshop was to provide a platform for all stakeholders to share their ideas in coping with the problems being faced by the fishermen.
Federal and provincial government officials, marine scientists, consultants, representative of fishermen from Sindh and Balochistan and others also attended the event.
The fishermen community should elect their own representatives to deal with real changes come to their life, said member Provincial Assembly Sindh Humera Alwani. National Centre for Maritime Policy Research organsied the event.
She stressed on the need of working on grass root level to address the health, education, training and financial issues of fishermen community along the Sindh and Balochistan coasts.
Director General Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Wasim Akram on Indian fishermen violation of sea limits said expensive and widely demanded red snapper, tiger prawn and shrimps and lobsters were main source of attraction for them in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
As a matter of fact, these valuable species in such abundance are not available along the western coast of the Gujarat, so this is the reason at one time around 200 Indian fishing boats on the average are present, poaching inside our EEZ.
Daily Times