Thursday, February 12, 2009
The protracted controversy between the Sindh and Balochistan fisheries departments over fish catch from their jurisdictions turned violent, when some people opened indiscriminate firing at two Karachi-bound fishing boats, killing three fishermen and injuring five others aboard the two trawlers.
A Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) official said that two fishing boats, Al-Rahm-o-Karam and Al-Khizr, carrying 21 crew members each, left the Karachi Fish Harbour (KFH) on January 27, 2009 in search of catch towards Balochistan. On February 9, the boats were fired upon by some miscreants. He added that Al-Rahm-o-Karam boat was damaged badly by the firing.
Quoting crew members of Al-Khizr, who brought back the body of a victim, Humayun, and a wounded, Abdul Mannan, the FCS official stated that two other bodies and four injured were on their way to Karachi on their damaged boat. He believed that the boat would reach KFH in the next 12 to 16 hours.
He informed The News that the FCS administrator, Mohammed Jaffar Khuwaja, has asked the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) officials to provide a speedboat or an aircraft to expedite the return of the deceased and the injured. But according to the MSA spokesman, the boat is on its way and will arrive at KFH within a couple of hours. He added that if the FCS officials had informed them earlier, they would have launched a timely rescue operation.
Sources at the KFH told The News that the Balochistan Coastal Department had banned trawlers from entering their territory for fishing purposes, and had fixed a fee of Rs50,000 for each trawler that fished in the restricted area. He said that these were not boats, but medium-sized trawlers. He pointed out that usually, these trawlers pay such ‘entry fee’ to Balochistan authorities for a 15-day trip. The source suggested that the trawlers which were attacked might have denied payment of such ‘entry fee’ to the officials and attempted fishing illegally in the area, due to which armed people fired at the boats.
All crew members of the attacked boats belong to Muhammadi Colony, Karachi. They staged a protest demonstration at KFH, condemning the action taken by the Balochistan government authorities. The victims said that armed men traveling on three speedboats opened indiscriminate fire at the boats, and the incident has created fear amongst the fisherfolk community of Sindh.
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) spokesman said the main problem is illegal operation by trawlers in those areas, which violate rules regarding not operating within the 12 nautical miles radius. However, he continued, it is an old dispute between the two provincial sea authorities over fishing territory. Baloch fishermen allege that Karachi fishermen usually use destructive nets, which they will not allow, he concluded.
FCS Administrator Jaffar Khuwaja expressed shock over the incident and informed that a meeting will be convened soon to discuss and settle the matter. He added that such incidents of killing fishermen will create uproar within the fisherfolk community of both provinces.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=162176 |
