Karachi:
The community of fishermen has criticized strongly and opposed the formation of fisheries policy at the national level, declaring that fishing is clearly a provincial subject, therefore, only the provinces can formulate a policy concerning the fishing sector.
Speaking to L’Express PK Press Club, president of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Mustafa Mirani said that he had learned through the media that the federal government authorities are involved in the formulation of a fishing policy at the national level. He said that the fishermen’s community is the main stakeholder in the fishing sector, but they are not consulted before writing this policy. “We will not accept any policy that is done against our interests,” he warned.
It is relevant to mention that the federal government has disseminated a “national fishing and aquaculture policy 2025-35” project with provincial governments including Sindh and Balutchistan. The provincial secretary for fishing and livestock, Sindh, Kazim Hussain Jatoi confirmed it and informed the Express PK Press Club that the Sindh government was still preparing its comments for the proposed policy.
According to the proposed policy, the federal government establishes an APEX council, namely the “Pakistani peach council (PFAC)” PFAC) including the relevant stakeholders of the center and the provinces. He will propose modifications to policy and to fishing legislation to resolve questions in the federal-provincial context of peaches and aquaculture governance.
In this project, the governments of Sindh and Balutchistan are advised to record and regularize all private throwing and unauthorized informal landing sites existing through specific rights, rules and directives. “The annual tax, rent and costs will be taken from all these jets and landing sites for the structure erected inside the sea (from the large brand of water),” he said.
According to the project, the Mercantile Marine Department must record all the ships, with the exception of merchant and cargo ships, which intend to operate in the waters of the country. “The governments of the coastal provinces of Sindh and Balutchistan are invited to complete their efforts to establish an integrated and coherent” central digital register “at the country’s level for sea fishing ships and the MMD treatment of the MMD of the federal government which has devolved systems arrangements for the treatment of the registration at the provincial level,” he said.
According to the project, the federal government, in consultation with the provincial governments of the Sindh and Balutchistan, must rationalize the “ license system ” as well as the “ mechanism for sharing advantages ” for the co -management of the capture of peaches in all fishing areas in the sea waters of Pakistan, including certification for Nakhuda and Crew.
It has also been proposed in the project that there will be a ban of three months of fishing, from June to August, instead of two existing months, at sea and in freshwater resources. According to the proposed policy, the federal and provincial governments develop and implement rules dedicated to the reform or to describe it the role and governance mechanism concerning social organizational configurations such as cooperative societies of peaches.
