THE EU authorities have once again declined Pakistan the opportunity to export fish to their markets.

This is of some significance because the fishing sector is a source of livelihood for millions of landless people along the coastal areas and fisheries play an important role in the country's economy.

Pakistan's coastline, which stretches over 990km from Gwadar bay to Sir Creek, provides a fishing zone of 240,000 square kilometres. Meanwhile, inland fisheries represent great potential, especially in water-logged zones spread over 50 million hectares and in streams.

In 1959, the federal government established the Karachi fish harbour. Some aspects of the project, primarily the operation and maintenance of the harbour, were handed over to the Fishermen's Cooperative Society (FCS). Control of the harbour was transferred to the Sindh government in 1974 but the role of the FCS was kept intact.

Then in 1984, the Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority (KFHA) came into existence as a prerequisite to a 12 million ECU (European Currency Unit) grant by the European Economic Commission for the rehabilitation of the harbour.

During the year ending June 2010, Pakistan exported seafood products worth $300m to mainly China and other far eastern countries. Had access to the EU market been available, the figure is likely to have touched $400m.

Concerned about any potential health risk to their consumers, EU authorities started focusing on the conditions of hygiene prevalent at harbours of the countries from where they import fish. During a visit to the Karachi fish harbour in 1997, inspectors of the EU's Food and Veterinary Organisation (FVO) observed poor hygiene conditions. To avoid restrictions, Pakistan put in place a self-imposed ban which was lifted after improvements were made.

An EU inspection team wrapped up its second visit to the harbour in 2005 on the note that Pakistan must maintain seafood quality to avoid a ban. Since conditions remained poor, in 2007 the EU de-listed fish-processing units which were exporting fish to EU markets. Since then, having the ban lifted has remained a challenge.

The conditions set by EU authorities are not too complicated: they ask that the handling of fish, from catching to packing and transportation, is under hygienic conditions, and that freshness and a traceability record be maintained.

For this, it is essential to replace wooden fish-holds with fibreglass ones in which fish can be properly stacked on germ-free ice. At the jetty, auction halls and peeling and processing platforms, quality plastic material and equipment needs to be used and, where necessary, unpolluted surroundings must be ensured mechanically.

In order to bring our fish harbour up to international standards, the federal and Sindh governments have since 2005 allocated over Rs900m to the KFHA through the livestock and fisheries department.

These funds were meant to be used for the rehabilitation and renovation of auction halls, boat modification, the procurement of material and machinery for handling the catch, flake-ice plants, waste-removal equipment and hiring security guards and janitors — even though there are dozens of idle (surplus) employees in both the KFHA and FCS.

Day-to-day management of the harbour is the responsibility of the FCS, overseen by the KFHA which is controlled by the minister of the Sindh fisheries department as its chairman.

Historically, the heads of both organisations have either remained at daggers drawn in the race to grab a big chunk of the 'cake' or have colluded to suck away the resources meant for the maintenance of the harbour and the welfare of fishermen. This is the root cause behind the dismal situation at the harbour.

“Although three months have passed [since the rains], the water standing on the roads has not yet been pumped out,” complained Faisal Iftikhar, the chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association (PEFA). “The less said about the conditions at the jetty, the better.”

The EU's observations can be summarised in two words: fresh and hygienic seafood. A senior FCS employee says that ensuring this “is not difficult if one-fourth of the KFH's recorded monthly earning of over Rs2m is diverted for the proper maintenance of the harbour”. But “the fish harbour has been hijacked by the mafia comprising purchasers, auctioneers, union leaders and even some of the processors, patronised by the KFHA and FCS authorities”, confessed one of the directors of the FCS board.

This mafia wields so much influence that the decisions taken during a briefing to the president of Pakistan at Bilawal House in June 2009 have not been implemented. These related primarily to the suspension of licences of the boats that are unfit to use for fishing, and processors who fail to handle the catch as standing operating procedures demand. Decisions were also taken regarding the withholding of permits of auctioneers and banning the entry of unauthorised individuals and vehicles in and around the jetty and marketplaces.

Gaining access to EU markets is not just an issue of image-building but of entering the huge markets of rich countries that offer high prices. Pakistan's exports would be boosted and the chances of exporting our fish to US markets would also be raised. However, the chairman of the PFEA is not hopeful. In fact, he fears that countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, that, too, were barred from exporting fish to EU markets but managed to have the ban lifted, may also stop importing seafood from Pakistan if the current conditions don't change.

Even if the ban is lifted, as officials of the marine fisheries department hope, the threat of re-imposition would continue. There is need to develop an exhaustive and long-term action plan to be implemented by a dedicated team that remains in charge for a considerable period and enjoys independence and the government's backing. In the current situation, in addition to the loss of potential earnings, fishermen who have for generations lived under pitiable conditions continue to have no future.

The writer has worked as the secretary of the Sindh livestock and fisheries department.

meer.parihar@gmail.com