KARACHI: Speakers on Friday warned of the perilous suffering that coastal fishing communities face, mainly due to severe poverty, lack of basic amenities and livelihoods.

They called for capacity building and provision of alternative livelihood options to improve their lives and promote better management of coastal resources in Pakistan.

Speakers at the closing session of a “Sustainable Fisheries Entrepreneurship – A Citizen’s Approach to Saving Pakistan’s Unique Marine Environment – Phase II” workshop at a local hotel raised concerns about the stagnation of the life of the poverty stricken community.

The project was implemented by WWF-Pakistan with support from the Engro Foundation in Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth, Karachi.

The main objective of the project was to provide fishing-related assets and build the capacity of fishermen to reduce post-harvest losses, bycatch and overfishing in Pakistan’s marine waters.

WWF-Pakistan regional director Dr Tahir Rasheed said people in Pakistan’s coastal areas lack basic amenities and many families live in abject poverty.

The livelihoods and income generating resources of the people have been destroyed due to several factors, he said and added that fishing tools have been provided to deserving fishermen to improve their livelihoods and reduce post-harvest losses.

The project enabled fishermen to contribute to the safe release of important marine life. “For the planting and rehabilitation of forests, 20,000 hectares of mangrove plantations are underway with the support of the Engro Foundation,” he added.

Rizwana Halepoto, Human Resources Manager at Engro Vopak Terminal, congratulated the team on the successful execution of the project and noted that it has contributed to the protection of marine life and has helped bring about positive change in the standard of living of fishermen.

She also said that Engro has worked closely with different stakeholders to support nature conservation in Pakistan and improve the lives of deserving and marginalized communities.

“To continue these efforts to improve the population and marine resources, Engro is committed to supporting the third phase of this project,” she added.

Fawad Soomro, Country Head, Engro Foundation said the uncontrolled increase in the size of fishing fleets has led to overfishing in Pakistan’s marine waters.

It is also ironic that post-harvest losses are extremely high due to improper handling and storage on board fishing vessels as well as at landing centers and during transport.

Commercial copyright recorder, 2022