Thatta April 4, 2010:
Training on sustainable management of fisheries held
Fishermen can play key role in sustainable management of fisheries. This was stated by the Director, Sindh Fisheries Ghulam Mujtaba Wadhar at the closing ceremony of three day training workshop on sustainable management of fisheries organized by Indus for All Programme, WWF-Pakistan under livelihood development plans implementation at Keenjhar Lake.
The Director said that fisheries department has taken various initiatives for the upliftment of fishermen community of Keenjhar Lake including provision of free houses as well as introduction of modern fishing practices. He said that due to lack of fish preservation skills and modern techniques not only quality of fish is affected but it brings less value of the fish catch. He hoped that with the collective efforts socioeconomic conditions of the fishermen would be improved.
The Programme Coordinator Indus for All Programme, WWF Nasir Ali Panhwar said that fishermen community should adopt environmental friendly fishing practices, so that resource base could be sustained for long term. He said that the fish population has decreased to a noticeable level, which forced many fishermen to quit their profession and switched over to other occupations like stone mining and stone crushing around Keenjhar Lake. Panhwar added that absence of gates on inlet and outlets is also one of the reasons of decreasing fish production in lake.
Site Manager Keenjhar Lake, Zahid Hussain Jalbani said that training is developed in view to resolve the issues and problems faced by the fishermen communities, who are mainly dependent on the fishing. He said that these fishermen have no other option but to live within the resources and utilize as there is no investment support available for them to get some financial support or provision of interventions in order to have some opportunity for income generation.
Prof. Dr. Naeem Tariq Narejo from University of Sindh Jamshoro highlighted the need of greater interaction between universities, non government organizations and fishermen community for sustainable management of fisheries. He said that Sindh has huge potential in fisheries sector, which may be exploited on sustainable parameters.
Deputy Director Sindh Fisheries Department Syed Ashraf Ali Shah, Punhal Khan Lashari, Mohammad Younis Laghari, and Ms. Bushra Anny Dars from University of Sindh also spoke. More than 25 fishermen from Keenjhar Lake participated in the training workshop.
For further Information:
Nasir Ali Panhwar
, Programme Coordinator,
Indus for All Programme, WWF – Pakistan
Contact: 0300 3079491,
napanhwar@gmail.com
Muhammad Zafar Khan
, Manager Communications and Environmental Education
Contact: 0300-3495901
, email: zafar.hilbi@gmail.com
Badrunnisa Tunio,
Communications Officer,
Indus for All Programme, WWF – Pakistan
arshi_mtunio@yahoo.com
