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August, 2004
Snags in Growth of Marine Resources
Identified
Experts at a workshop
identified factors contributing
to the country's failure in achieving
the required growth of fisheries.
They discussed various aspects of
the issue at the consultative workshop
on five-year pan for fisheries sector
here on Tuesday.
The event was hosted
jointly by the World Wide Fund for
Nature, Pakistan, (WWF-P) and Marine
Fisheries Department at the Wetland
Centre of the WWF-P, Hawkesbay.
Stakeholders in fisheries
sector, experts from the federal
and provincial departments of Marine
Fisheries, National Institute of
Oceanography, Balochistan Coastal
Development Authority, as well as
academicians and representatives
from various NGOs, community-based
organisations and academicians.
The objective of
organising the event was to get
input from stakeholders for the
preparation of the five-year plan.
The Marine Fisheries Department
(MFD) wants to finalize and execute
the five-year plan in consultation
with stakeholders, NGOs and CBOs,
especially the WWF-P which has contributed
a lot to the conservation and growth
of marine resources.
Commodore S. Q. Raza,
Director General of the MFD, Dr
Ejaz Ahmed, Deputy Director General
of the WWF-P, Dr Moazzam of the
MFD, Dr Makhdoom from Karachi University
and Ahmed Nadeem, Assistant Director
of the Balochistan Coastal Development
Authority were the main speakers
at the workshop.
The experts pointed
out that scarcity of scientific
studies and the non-availability
of data about marine fisheries,
lack of human resource development,
illegal and harmful practices in
fishing, and absence of micro-finance
facility were major obstacles in
the required growth of fisheries.
Commodore Raza said
that marine fisheries policy should
be based on research, and communities
should be involved in the planning
process. Dr Aijaz Ahmed highlighted
various WWF projects launched in
different parts of the country.
The projects are
based on community participation
and aimed at preserving and upgrading
of nature, especially coastal life
and marine resources. The Fund has
also joined hands with various other
institutions/organizations in socio-economic
uplift of people in Pakistan.
He also deliberated
upon the modalities for the preparation
and execution of the five-year plan
in an effective manner. The experts
at the workshop were divided into
three working groups.
Two of the groups
focused on "Marine fisheries
resources - threats, targets and
strategies" with one of them
discussing the issue in the perspective
of Sindh and the other of Balochistan.
The third group deliberated
upon the subject of research required
for developing strategies and action
plans, and determining the role
and responsibilities of the respective
departments.
Federal Planning
Commission has been working out
the five-year plan 2005-2010 and
has formed working groups covering
important sectors of economy to
prepare a draft plan in the respective
sectors for consideration and approval
by the federal government. One such
group has been formed to cover livestock,
dairy, poultry and fisheries sectors.
Source: Dawn
(newspaper)
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