Aquaculture for all

Fishermen Demand Investigation into Mysterious Fish Deaths

KARACHI - Concerns are mounting over hundreds of dead fish, that are being washed dup on the Larachi costa.

The fish, including Mullet, Bohi and other species, have been seen at the near Baba, Bhit, Shamspir and Salehabad islands and the premises of Karachi Fish Harbour (KFH).

Fishermen are demanding authorities take action to establish the cause and address it, says a report in Pakistan's The News. Officials in the Marine Fisheries Department believe that the increasing levels of marine pollution could be to blame. Chemical and industrial waste, disposed into the sea could be the main factor behind the death of the fish.

A local activist Rafiq Parhyar of Baba Island, told The News that villagers have witnessed a large number of dead fish near their island villages and jetties every two months.

He claimed that the factory trawlers, operating near the country’s coast, may trash un-saleable fish back into the sea, which is also a form of pollution that destroys marine species.

Pakistan Fishermens' Forum (PFF) Chairman, Mohammed Ali Shah, said that they had already approached government authorities to conduct a survey to identify what was causing the loss, but, there had been little positive response.

If the authorities did not take steps to address the problem immediately, it might push the fishermen’s community into unemployment, he added. Fish stocks had already been wiped out along the country’s coast due to over-fishing and pollution hence this unimaginable loss of fish required a proper probe.

View The News story by clicking here.
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