FISH production in freshwater lakes, fed by the Indus River or hill torrents, has declined substantially over time. To shore up the inland fisheries, the Sindh fisheries department’s hatcheries in five districts are supplying fish seed to these lakes and selling it to private fish farms.

Another five hatcheries are planned for Naushahro Feroze, Sanghar, Shikarpur, Jamshoro and Khairpur. Sindh has an estimated 1,209 freshwater bodies. But only an authentic satellite survey could reveal how many have dried or are currently under illegal occupation of influential people.

The continued drop in the inflows of the Indus River has hit these water bodies badly. Fishermen, who now avail themselves of licences for fishing since 2011, continue to lose the volumes of their catch. Under the government licencing system, fishermen pay a nominal amount to the Sindh fisheries department.

The department plans to have a hatchery in every district for sustainable development of inland fisheries. It would also propose to the Sindh government to carry out a survey for ascertaining the actual number of public and private water bodies in Sindh

Major freshwater lakes like Keenjhar in Thatta, Manchhar in Jamshoro and Chotiari reservoir in Sanghar districts have all been hit by water shortage. According to Director, Inland Fisheries, Khawar Pervez, flows from the Indus River to Keenjhar lake during the in monsoon are vital for fish breeding. And the bypassing of lake at this crucial time for water supply to Karachi deprives the lake of its natural fish seed.

He explained that low flows in the Indus River due to environmental degradation and climate change have jeopardised Sindh’s fish production which is around 120,000 metric tonnes, of which 50pc comes from fish farming.

Likewise, Manchhar faces contamination from toxic water of Main Nara Valley drain. Fish production in both these freshwater lakes has drastically declined.

To overcome this problem and make fish production sustainable, the fisheries department is building a hatchery exclusively for the Manchhar lake (out of five planned ones) so that it could be supplied fish seed continuously to support fishermen’s source of livelihood.

Such hatcheries help fatten fish seed under controlled diet. Hormonal injections are given to fish before they are supplied to private farming and inland water bodies. The department estimates fish farms at around 3,000 which are spread over 93,000 acres. He pointed out that Keenjhar’s production has dropped from 15,000 to 3,000 metric tonnes and Manchhar maintains its output at 10,000 metric tonnes as in the past.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Vice President, Mustafa Mirani believes that around 30pc of freshwater bodies have dried up. The PFF demands that a satellite based survey should eb conducted to determine the actual number of these bodies. Influential individuals who occupy these water bodies have built banks around such lakes to block the supply of river water. After drying of the lakes, leases are obtained from the revenue department for this land. Then it is again converted into lakes to keep them under their control.

The department plans to have a hatchery in every district for sustainable development of inland fisheries. It would also propose to the Sindh government to carry out a survey for ascertaining the actual number of public and private water bodies in Sindh, Pervez said.

The use of illegal fishing net and poison for killing fish is said to be common in upper Sindh. This is done to catch fish to save the cost of labour.

The PFF has identified some problems of inland fisheries, demanding an immediate solution. These are: encroachments on water bodies; demarcation of 1,209 wetlands; river water shortage; contract system of the forest department for lakes; lack of special development package for fishing community/lakes’ development.

The forum has proposed that fisheries and revenue departments should map lakes, ban the conversion of lakes into agricultural land and all such leases of lakes be withdrawn. The Sindh irrigation department should seek allocation of water from the Indus River System for lakes, and the forest department should be barred from auctioning water for fishing on their land.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, January 16th, 2017