Karachi:
The fishermen community has criticized and has opposed the formation of fishing policy nationwide, stating that fishing is clearly a provincial subject, therefore, only the provinces can formulate any policy on the fishing sector.
Speaking with the Express PAkGazette, president of the Pakistan Fishing Forum, Mustafa Mirani said they have learned through the media that the federal government authorities are dedicated to formulating a national fishing policy. He said that the fishermen’s community is the main interested part of the fishing sector, but they are not consulted before writing this policy. “We will not accept any policy against our interests,” he warned.
It is pertinent to mention that the federal government has circulated a draft of the ‘National Policies of Fishing and Aquaculture 2025-35’ with provincial governments such as Sindh and Baluchistan. The provincial secretary of fishing and livestock, Sindh, Kazim Hussain Jatoi confirmed this and informed Express PAkGazette that the Sindh government was still preparing their comments to the proposed policy.
According to the proposed policy, the Federal Government will establish a Council of Apex, namely the “Pakistan Fishing Council and the Aquaculture Council (PFAC)” which includes the relevant interested parties of the center and the provinces. It will propose amendments to the fishing policy and legislation to solve problems in the federal-provincial context of fishing and the governance of aquaculture.
In this draft, the governments of Sindh and Baluchistan are advised to regulate and regularize all private unauthorized docks existing and landing sites through specific laws, rules and guidelines. “The annual tax, the rent and the rate will apply to all these docks and landing sites for the structure erected within the sea (from the brand of high water),” he said.
According to El Draft, the Department of Mercantile Marines will register each ship, except commercial and cargo ships, which are intended to operate in the waters of the country. “The governments of the coastal provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan are advised to complement their efforts to establish an” central digital registration ‘integrated and coherent at the country level for the fishing vessels of the sea and shelters of shelters by the federal government MMD that will have arrangements of the system invested for registration processing at the provincial level, “he said.
According to the draft, the Federal Government, in consultation with the provincial governments of Sindh and Baluchistan, will rationalize the “system of a license” together with the “benefit exchange mechanism” for the management of capture fishing in all fishing areas in the marine waters of Pakistan, including the certification of Nakhuda and the maid.
It has also been proposed in the Draft that there will be three months of prohibition of fishing, from June to August, instead of two existing months, at sea and in fresh water resources. According to the proposed policy, federal and provincial governments will develop and implement dedicated rules to reform or describe the role and governance mechanism with respect to social organization configurations such as fishing cooperative societies.
