Karachi, popularly known as the financial hub of the country, owes part of its commercial success to its close proximity to the sea, which through port activities and fisheries allows the city to generate sizeable revenue. Unfortunately, where most developed nations across the world have fully utilized their coastal areas, developing them into seafood markets and vacation spots, Pakistan’s inability to activate the Korangi Fish Harbour has not only overburdened the primary, Karachi Fish Harbour, but has also led the country to lose out on the opportunity to earn millions of dollars through exports.
Built in 1959, the Karachi Fish Harbour, located near the port of Karachi, is the biggest fish harbour of the country, producing almost 1000 metric tonnes of fish everyday. On the other hand, the Korangi Fish Harbour which was established in 1982 with the support of the Asian Development Bank at a cost of Rs1 billion, was built as an alternative to the Karachi Fisheries Harbour and is still managed by the federal government while the management of the Karachi Fish Harbour was shifted to the provincial government in 1974.
Despite, two huge fishing settlements, Rehri Goth and Ibrahim Hydari located near the Korangi Fish Harbour, a lack of fundamental fishing facilities has forced all the fishermen from Balochistan to Karachi to take their catch to the Karachi Fish Harbour. “Local fishermen take their fish to the Karachi Fish Harbour because their fish are auctioned quickly over there, while there is no fish auctioning arrangement at the Korangi Harbour,” explained Majeed Motani, leader of a local fishermen’s organization.
“The total parking capacity for fishing boats at the Karachi Fisheries Harbour is 400 to 500 only, but on the contrary, more than 1000 boats are seen parked here at all times,” commented Sagheer Ahmed, the spokesperson for the Karachi Fisheries Harbour. According to the fishermen, the best solution to this problem is to fully activate the Korangi Fisheries Harbour since this will not only reduce the pressure from the Karachi Fisheries Harbour but will also greatly increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings from fish exports, which could surpass the Rs400 million dollars that are generated through the Karachi Fish Harbour, which exports 80 per cent of its produce.
“Unfortunately, at present the Korangi Fish Harbour is direly lacking the required facilities like fish auctions. Moreover, there are no security arrangements in place either,” said Sarwar Siddiqui, Head of the Sindh Trawler Owners Association, an organization of deep sea fishing trawler owners, who further suggested that a representative from his association should be included in the Board of Directors of the harbour to help identify and resolve issues in a timely manner.
When contacted by the Express Tribune, an official from the Sindh Fisheries Department assured that the Sindh government could fully activate the Korangi Fish Harbour, if the federal government hands it over to the Sindh government after clearing all the due arrears. It is worth noting that this issue was also brought up during the Sindh Chief Minister’s meeting with the Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, when the former informed the latter that the Karachi Fisher Harbour was overburdened therefore the Korangi Fish Harbour must be made fully functional. In this regard, when the Express Tribune called the office of the Managing Director (MD) of the Korangi Fisheries Harbour, it was told that no officer including the MD was available to talk.