{"id":20065629,"date":"2021-02-11T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=65629"},"modified":"2021-02-16T23:47:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T18:17:58","slug":"gwadar-fishers-fearful-as-china-eyes-pakistans-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/gwadar-fishers-fearful-as-china-eyes-pakistans-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishers fearful as China eyes Pakistan\u2019s fisheries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fishers in the city of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea are dreading China\u2019s growing interest in Pakistan\u2019s fishing sector. \u201cIf it means their trawlers will eat up more of our fish stock, we don\u2019t want any investment or assistance from the Chinese,\u201d said Haji Khudad Wajo, the leader of the community in the district which is being developed as the trade hub at the centre of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Wajo, scores of fishermen along Pakistan\u2019s 990 km coastline have been crushed by the devastating effects of unregulated local and foreign fishing trawlers that have \u201ccaused a genocide of fish\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the eve of 2021, a top Chinese diplomat shared that country\u2019s plans to expand the local fishing industry in an interview <\/a>with a Pakistani newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou [Pakistan] have rich resources when it comes to fisheries… Chinese investors are very much interested in investing in the fishing sector in Pakistan,\u201d said Consul General Li Bijian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese investors are very much interested in investing in the fishing sector in Pakistan.<\/blockquote>Consul General Li Bijian<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He talked of bigger boats and modern fishing tools for the fishers in Gwadar and said there was a dire need to build processing factories. \u201cThe local fishermen need to increase their fishing capacity to help export the seafood,\u201d he said, adding that locals need to go into the deep sea for fishing as \u201cfishing is not profitable\u201d on seashores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fish stocks exhausted already<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The declaration has deeply worried fishers in both Sindh and Balochistan provinces, where the near 700,000 strong fishing community is already struggling to survive owing to fast-depleting fish stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

A 2015 study<\/a> on Pakistan\u2019s fisheries by the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed that not a single resource in Pakistan\u2019s marine fisheries is being fished sustainably. It concluded that Pakistan\u2019s marine resources are overfished and have been dwindling as part of an \u201congoing ecological disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Li spoke of protecting the ecosystem, it is unclear what steps China will take to protect marine life and the local fishers in Balochistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s apparently insatiable demand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With a soaring demand for seafood at home, China has one of the world\u2019s biggest fishing industries. Britain\u2019s Overseas Development Institute <\/a>(ODI) puts the size of China\u2019s deep water fishing fleet at 17,000 vessels, far ahead of any other country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International studies have linked destructive fishing practices<\/a> of Chinese trawlers with drying up of fish stocks in several countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent study by Stockholm University forecasts<\/a> that by 2030, China is likely to need up to 18 million tonnes of additional seafood to satisfy projected domestic consumption \u2013 a demand it will meet in part by expanding its distant water fishing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protests likely<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Pakistan, fishers have for decades protested deep sea trawling, and in recent years have reported a sharp decrease in their catch. In Gwadar, where China has invested billions through CPEC projects, locals are already reeling from being displaced <\/a>due to the development of the port which promises to be the gateway for China\u2019s trade ambitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are totally against these fishing trawlers. They will wipe out the entire fish stock and destroy our community,\u201d said Saeed Baloch of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF<\/a>). \u201cThere are already 12 Chinese trawlers docked at the Karachi port and we have been  informed there will be 60 more trawlers in the future. If they are allowed to fish, the worst is yet to come.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are totally against these fishing trawlers. They will wipe out the entire fish stock and destroy our community.<\/blockquote>Saeed Baloch, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Baloch\u2019s fears about the presence of the Chinese deep-sea trawlers docked at the port of Karachi are shared by many fishers. The arrival of these vessels in October 2020 sparked protests as local fishermen feared that the federal government was secretly allowing Chinese ships to fish in these waters. Since the government had not publicly denied giving these trawlers fishing licences, the community feared the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What fishing price policy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s federal government created a deep-sea fishing policy <\/a>in 2018 to regulate these issues, but it is viewed with scepticism both by fishers and provincial governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moazzam Khan, an advisor on marine fisheries for WWF-Pakistan, said the 2018 policy was made to manage the country\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pakistan<\/div>
Pakistan’s coast is about 990 km long extending from the Indian border in the east to the Iranian border in the west. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan is about 240,000 square km, with an additional continental shelf area of about 50,000 square km.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 2018 policy was made for this purpose that EEZ fishing should be managed, but it was resisted by fishermen as there is a socioeconomic consequence. We can and should modify our fisheries but abruptly doing it will be disastrous for tens of thousands of people. For instance, abolishing the destructive gillnet practice is necessary but without an alternative what will fishermen do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the arrival of big Chinese vessels, Khan said it would result in the \u201ccollapse of the fisheries\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese vessels will be competing with local fishermen and the coastal community simply cannot compete,\u201d he told The Third Pole<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is hardly any fish left for locals to catch, how and why are the Chinese being allowed to fish in our waters,\u201d Khan asked, adding that at around 2,500, Pakistan\u2019s private trawler fleet is already four times the advised capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystery surrounds Chinese trawlers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PFF representative Baloch said the docking of Chinese deep sea trawlers at the port of Karachi is a \u201cconspiracy on the part of the federal government which will further push the already beleaguered fishermen community to the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He alleged it indicates \u201cclearly\u201d that the federal government is going to give licences to the Chinese trawlers in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Minister for Maritime Affairs has said he was unaware of the arrival of the said trawlers at the jetty,\u201d Saeed said, \u201cHow is that possible? The federal government has intentionally allowed them [here] to give them licences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baloch said these foreign trawlers, if allowed to operate, will deplete marine life and add to the growing conflict between Sindh and Balochistan over the presence of trawlers from Sindh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scores of fishers took to the streets to protest the presence of Chinese ships in Karachi.<\/blockquote><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are totally against both local and foreign trawlers in Balochistan,\u201d he said, adding that scores of fishers took to the streets to protest the presence of Chinese ships in Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moazzam Khan said the Chinese are eager to fish in Pakistan waters as they can sell the catch back home duty-free. \u201cIf a Chinese vessel comes here to fish, the imported fish will be duty free. Even if the Chinese vessels are docked at the port, their name is used to catch fish in the Indian Ocean and sell it duty-free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Destructive fishing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trawlers use large nets with heavy weights that are dragged across the floor of the ocean to collect everything in their path \u2013 a practice conservationists say is deeply destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisher Ilyas Bengali, a resident of Machar colony in Karachi who has been fishing in the Sindh and Balochistan deep sea waters for several years, told The Third Pole<\/a>, \u201cThese trawlers possess narrowly woven nets that catch fish\u2014small and big\u2014along with eggs, to wipe out aquatic life. Due to the absence of fish, we are now compelled to go to Balochistan to fish in our small boats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/div>
A Pakistani trawler tows a catch from the Arabian Sea [Image by: Sajid Noor Baloch]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many of the local trawlers are fishing illegally, Bengali said, adding that his anxieties have been compounded with the arrival of Chinese trawlers in Sindh\u2019s coastal area last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthropologist Hafeez Jamali, who has spent considerable time working with fishers in Gwadar, said, \u201cDeep sea trawling has taken place in Pakistan\u2019s coastal areas since the 1990s. Without a proper check and balance system, the trawlers have pretty much depleted the fisheries stock in the Indus delta. Today, they fish in the Makran coastal region from time to time out of desperation, because there is very little left at their sites in Sindh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs their vessels move, the net sweeps the sea floor, capturing every living thing in the process, whether it is needed or not. When the trawl net is brought aboard the vessel, the valuable commercial fish are taken out and the rest \u2013 eggs and dead fish \u2013 are thrown out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep sea trawling causes ecological destruction, said Jamali, as it enables overfishing and simultaneously destroys nesting grounds in the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the fisheries law prohibits trawlers from operating at a distance of 12 nautical miles \u201cthey are not concerned about the law due to their greed for valuable commercial fish,\u201d Jamali said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K.B. Firaq, an advocate of better rights for fishers, said illegal trawling in the waters of Balochistan is an old phenomenon. \u201cWe have witnessed it as far back as the 1970s. Recently, when I visited Jiwani in the Gwadar district, I could see a trawler in the water, near the beach. They operate with ease and result in the genocide of fish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though illegal in Balochistan, Firaq said these trawlers manage to operate as their operators \u201care hand in glove with the authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohammad Akbar Askani, advisor to Balochistan\u2019s chief minister, confirms this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI suspended 12 office bearers from the fisheries department in Jiwani, a port town in Gwadar district, who were involved in allowing the trawlers to fish illegally,\u201d Askani told The Third Pole<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suspended 12 office bearers from the fisheries department in Jiwani, a port town in Gwadar district, who were involved in allowing the trawlers to fish illegally.<\/blockquote>Mohammad Akbar Askani, advisor to Balochistan\u2019s chief minister<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes, especially in the darkness of the night, these [trawlers in zone 3] intrude into our waters [zone 1]. We apprehend them but sometimes, due to their size and the sheer number of crew, they seriously injure our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aziz Sanghur, Karachi based activist who writes on fishers\u2019 rights, said: \u201cInfluential and wealthy people in Karachi own these trawlers. Due to lack of fish in Sindh waters, these trawlers go into Balochistan waters for deep sea fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of putting an end to trawling, he said, it appears there is an attempt to legalise it. \u201cThis will have dire consequences not only for fishermen and the ecology but also for Pakistan\u2019s fish export.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dwindling incomes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the Pasni port jetty in Gwadar, fisher Naseem Baloch said his community is barely surviving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past when we would go into the sea, each of us would earn from PKR15,000 to PKR20,000 [USD93 to USD 125] from the sale of fish,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, these earnings are reduced to PKR5,000 to PKR10,000 [USD30 to USD62]. Sometimes, it is as low as PKR4,000 [USD25]. We are living from hand to mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat is not new. Fifteen years ago, an ActionAid report<\/a> had said, \u201cPakistan\u2019s fisherfolk go to bed hungry because of predatory trawlers moving in as a result of the country’s drive for more trade and exports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Another<\/div>
Another of the fishing boats abandoned on the Pasni beach [Image by: Sajid Noor Baloch]<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s interest in Pakistan\u2019s fisheries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As regards China\u2019s plans to invest in Pakistan\u2019s fishing sector, experts are sceptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat expansion are they talking about? We need to improve our fisheries,\u201d said Moazzam Khan of WWF. \u201cWe can only invite others when we have done so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when the fisheries are replenished, Khan feels the fishing should not be done by the Chinese, but by locals to lift them out of poverty. \u201cOther than squid, which Pakistan does not fish nor market, there is no capacity for these Chinese vessels to be fishing in our waters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khan added that one Chinese vessel can catch 10 times more fish than a Pakistani one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Chinese vessel can catch 10 times more fish than a Pakistani one.<\/blockquote>Moazzam Khan, WWF-Pakistan<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When asked about Li Bijian\u2019s mention of sustainable fishing, training of fishers and processing plants, Khan said: \u201cThis looks like lip service. Do you think these fishermen need training? How will processing plants run without raw material? These offers are just an excuse to get permission for their deep sea vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the IUCN, Pakistan\u2019s fisheries would benefit from addressing some key issues: harvesting beyond sustainable limits, use of destructive nets, over population of boats and trawlers, degradation of mangroves and pollution of coastal fishing grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No consultation with locals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Haji Wajo said his community is left out of the conversation on development entirely. \u201cDespite being the oldest dwellers in Gwadar, we have no say in the process.\u201d Due to their protests, he said they received assistance from China, which includes 15 boat engines and solar panels. But to him it is \u201ca drop in the ocean. We should be trained, educated and equipped with  modern fishing tools. My community is uneducated, but it does not mean we cannot make decisions about our future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Chinese diplomat\u2019s announcement that China will expand Gwadar\u2019s fishing industry scares fishers in Pakistan\u2019s coastal cities, who already face destitution due to dwindling catch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000114,"featured_media":20065630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039901,760],"tags":[545,40027778,40027748,20000341],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000112],"class_list":["post-20065629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean","category-pollution","tag-fisheries","tag-marine-protection","tag-overfishing","tag-water-pollution","country-pakistan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGwadar Fishers fearful as China eyes Pakistan\u2019s fisheries |<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Chinese diplomat\u2019s announcement that China will expand Gwadar\u2019s fishing industry scares 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