Marine Life in Sindh's Delta and Coasts Endangered

[Sikander Brohi <brohi1@CYBER.NET.PK>]

Following is my article published in Political Economy Section of
Daily The News. Your comments will be appreciated.


SIKANDER BROHI SZABIST Center for Information & Research Karachi

marine conservation

Sustainable fisheries after Jo'burg

By Sikander Brohi

Despite an alarming threat to its fisheries resources, Pakistan has
diverted all its efforts in increasing exports to compete in the
international market at the cost of further exploitation

In a major development, the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) held last year in Johannesburg, South Africa resulted in an
agreement, which would ensure the restoration of the world's depleted
fisheries by 2015. Considered as a breakthrough by summit organisers,
agreement on the target date in the WSSD's Plan of Implementation
requires countries to marshal resources and political will to ensure a
responsible management of fisheries. In fact, this agreement provides
us with the crucial underpinning for government action as the
depletion of fisheries poses a major threat to the food supply of
millions of people.

Such an agreement was need of the hour as UN studies show that
three-quarters of the world's fisheries are now fished to their
sustainable levels or beyond. In Pakistan, the threat to the fisheries
resources is looming large. Although at the government level it is
being widely propagated that the coastal resources of Pakistan are
still untapped and need more mechanisation and greater fleets for
being properly tapped, but the indigenous fisherfolk communities
report major decreases in the fish catch. They even claim that a
number of fish species, which were in abundance in the past, have now
become completely extinct.

While reporting decreases in the catch of many prized fish species,
the fisherfolk community members say that there were a lot of fish in
the sea in the past. But the catch of all these fish has drastically
reduced. They say that in the past they would catch 300 to 400kg of
shrimps during per fishing trip. But now despite an entire day fishing
activity, they cannot catch even 8-10kg. Those who go for long fishing
voyages for 20-25 days can catch only 100kg of shrimp. Previously,
they would catch 1,000kg within four to five days. The shark fish,
which was in abundance in the past, has become almost extinct.

Official figures also confirm drastic decline in the catch of big
sized shrimps locally known as jaira. According to Marine Fisheries
Department's record, the landings of jaira shrimps--the largest and
most prized category--came down almost by half, from 10,000 tons in
1971 to a mere 5,311 metric tons in 1998. The catch of kalri shrimp
also decreased from 7,400 tons in 1972 to 6,204 metric tons 1998. On
average, during the last ten years the valuable jaira catch declined
roughly by 47% and the kalri catch by 18%. Similarly, per year
(actually 10 months excluding June and July) per trawler shrimp
landings at Karachi have also declined from 15 tons in 1971 to only
2.12 tons at present.

Another fish, whose catch has drastically reduced over the years, is
palla--one of the best fish species of Sindh Province of
Pakistan. Palla is although a marine fish specie but its reproductive
urge instinctively diverts it from the sea to swim up the Indus River
for hundred of miles.  Construction of barrages on Indus River and
decline in the river flow in Deltaic region has resulted in depletion
of this otherwise prized fish.  Palla was reported as the single
largest specie of fish accounting for 70% of the total catch in the
past. But now it barely constitutes 15% of the total catch. Its
production in 1980 was 1,859 tons; it fell to only 265 metric tons per
year in 1995.

A number of factors are at work to exhaust the coastal as well as
inland fisheries resources of Pakistan. These include poor
management/governance of the fisheries resources; growing population
of the fisherfolk communities as well as the flow of population from
other sectors in the fisheries livelihoods; use of harmful nets and
unsustainable fishing methods; over-fishing practices; fishing by
deep-sea fishing trawlers; pollution of coastal waters and drastic
decrease in the flow of fresh water from Indus River; occupation and
over-fishing in coastal creeks as well as fresh water fisheries
resources by influential non-fisher people; fishing under contract
systems, etc.

Unfortunately, despite such an alarming threat to the fisheries
resources of the country Pakistan has diverted all its efforts in
increasing the exports of coastal fish resources to compete in the
international market and achieve a major share of cake in foreign
exchange at the cost of further exploitation of these resources.

Due to government's export-oriented policies and its attention fully
diverted to export maximisation policies in the fisheries sector,
there is little government attention towards the sustainability of
fisheries livelihoods amidst large-scale exploitation of fisheries
resources. Lack of government interest can be judged from the fact
that so far it has not formulated any fisheries policy for the
country. The fishery sector is usually amalgamated with agriculture
sector, and is dealt with as one of its sub-sectors.

Now that a wide concern has been shown for the state of fisheries
resources of various nations of the world in the WSSD, the time is
ripe for GoP to fulfil its commitments made to the international
community, including FAO while signing the document of FAOs Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, as well as its recent global
commitment at Johannesburg to formulate a concert policy on
sustainable fisheries.

The policy should be prepared while taking the civil society,
especially the fisherfolk communities and their representatives, into
confidence.  For this purpose, it is suggested that policymakers
should first prepare a draft policy document, which should be widely
disseminated and discussed by all the stakeholders. The final document
should carry all the suggestions of civil society organisations.

While looking into various issues related to the fisheries sector of
the country and summarising the discussions held with the local
fisherfolk communities, some of the basic points are presented below,
which should be made part of any sustainable fisheries policy so as to
ensure the protection of the livelihood resources of millions of
fisherfolk communities of Pakistan:

* Legal framework and administrative mechanism for the fishing
  rights/custodianship rights o indigenous fisherfolk communities of
  Pakistan on coastal as well as inland waters

* Banning over-fishing resorted to the industrial fishing fleets as
  well as the local fishermen by properly implementing the existing
  laws against over-fishing and introduction of new laws and
  rules. Revising deep-sea fishing policy including ban on deep-sea
  fishing by foreign deep-sea trawlers due to over-fishing, violation
  of rules and coastal pollution by these trawlers

* Stopping the use of harmful nets in coastal as well as inland
  fisheries by strengthening the existing legal provisions as well as
  monitoring systems by the government

* Reduction in urban pollution through recycling and wastewater
  treatment for safe marine disposal. Treatment of industrial
  waste-water before releasing the same into sea. Presently, about
  300m gallons urban sewerage of Karachi and about 37,000 tons of
  industrial waste are drained into the sea daily.

* Increase in fresh water flows from Indus River to Indus Delta by
  ensuring release of at least 10MAF water downstream Kotri Barrage
  round the year in the place of only flood seasons as envisaged in
  the Water Accord of 1991, to save the destruction of Indus Delta so
  that ecologically minimum flows are attained sustainable. It is
  necessary because the Indus Delta and other natural resources,
  including mangroves and fishes, are faced with great threat of
  extinction due to lack of fresh Indus water.

* Reducing local harvesting capacity, expanding closed seasons and
  including fish landings and processing units, defining sanctuaries
  and imposing catch limits through catch quotas. Imposition of ban on
  the construction of new fishing boats for at least two years to
  create balance in the fish resources in the fish catch in the coasts
  of Pakistan. It is necessary because the number of fishing boats has
  surpassed the actual quantity of fish available in the coast.

* Conducting a fresh survey of fish stocks in the coastal region to
  bring forth the actual status of stocks, and preparing policy plans
  for the sustainability of remaining stocks as well as recovery plans
  for the depleted fish species. Linking the fish catch with the
  availability of the fish stock

* Increasing community participation and ownership in various projects
  and plans being launched in the fisheries sector and ensuring
  alternative livelihoods for the fisherfolk communities so as to
  minimise the burden fishermen from the coast. Proper and sustainable
  representation of the fisherfolk communities and their
  representatives in all federal as well as provincial policymaking
  forums, institutions and departments related to fisheries sector

* Stopping the process of disposal of the effluent of agriculture
  drainage projects in the sea and banning plans for more drainage
  schemes aimed at disposing their effluents in the sea. Because on
  the one hand, there is no Indus water flow in the Indus Delta, while
  on the other hand, agriculture, industrial as well as urban effluent
  of the whole country is thrown into Indus Delta. Presently, more
  than 2,500 cusecs of Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) effluent
  comprising poisonous pesticide residues are thrown in Indus Delta
  daily. Now the Federal as well as Sindh Government has decided to
  drain out the effluent of Right Bank Outfall drain (RBOD) poisonous
  to the extent of 3,500PPM into the Indus Delta at Gharo Creek.

* Ensuring availability of fresh water for lakes, ponds and other
  fresh water fisheries resources of the country and restoration of
  license system for fishing in inland waters in place of contract
  system

* Initiation of any project on Indus River only after consultation
  with and consensus of fisherfolk communities and their
  representatives. It is necessary because the main cause of the
  degradation of Indus Delta is the constant decrease in the flow of
  fresh Indus Water. This flow has been decreasing with the
  construction of irrigation canals, dams and reservoirs. Before these
  mega irrigation schemes, the delta lands were ideal for agriculture
  production, which was even exported to remote countries. Similarly,
  due to the availability of sweet water fisheries resources were in
  abundance, which have now drastically reduced due to such projects.

* Considering the coastal population of Indus Delta as the real
  affectees of all the previously completed irrigation projects
  including dams and reservoirs and launching of special programmes
  for the economic rehabilitation of the coastal population providing
  them compensation for their economic losses along with ensuring
  alternative livelihoods

* Improvement of marketing and credit systems: the fishermen of the
  Indus Delta are being widely exploited due to the inefficient
  marketing system under which they are forced to receive loans from
  the middlemen.  The middlemen in response bind to sell their fish
  catch to them on throwaway prices. This has created a situation of
  bonded labour in the Indus Deltaic region. Therefore, it is
  necessary to improve and modernise the marketing system in
  fisheries, which should include latest marketing facilities
  including infrastructure development as well as soft loans to the
  fishermen from the public sector banks.

Besides the above points, para-wise implementation on the FAO's Code
of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is necessary to formulate and
implement a comprehensive policy for sustainable fisheries in Pakistan
to ensure the protection and rehabilitation of the precious fisheries
resources of the country.