Saba Javed

Fishing is a profitable profession earning sizable foreign exchange for Pakistan. However, the fishing communities living along the country’s coastline are mostly in dire straits, reports WealthPK. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has characterised 79% of the population as poor, while 54% falls in the poorest of the poor category. Almost 90% of the residents live in reed shacks in scattered settlements with no amenities.

The resource and service scarcity has the greatest effect on women and children. The average literacy rates were recorded 47% for men and 14% for women. The growth of the fishing sector cannot be possible without skilled people. Literacy, training, research, and modern technologies play an important role in improving the socioeconomic conditions of this community.

According to Ahmad Nadeem, Director of Marine Fisheries Lasbela, Balochistan, the economy and livelihoods of these rural communities are directly tied to their immediate environment consisting of mangrove swamps, creeks and fish farming. “Firstly, these communities must be provided with health security and insurance because their activities are very tough and exhausting. They are exposed to snake bites, fish bites and other diseases but they do not have any hospital on their panel and have to pay by themselves for treatment. That is why their earning is very low,” he said.

“Secondly, they don’t have any recognition in Pakistan. They must be considered as farmers or labours so that they can also have benefits. The Balochistan government recently passed a policy that fishermen should be considered as labour. However, the policy is just a document awaiting implementation,” Nadeem said.

“Thirdly, the fishermen have to go to the deep sea to find fish. The decreasing fish stocks have made their life worse, as they are dependent on the catch for food and income. The decreasing fish stocks have forced them to adapt to or change the fishing practices,” he said.

Nadeem said, “We know that fishermen help the country earn foreign exchange through the export of seafood, but they are unable to increase the exports, because their own lives aren’t improving and they do not get the return matching their effort. There is a huge shortage of trained and skilled professionals. The government needs to train and produce skilled professionals to meet the demands of domestic maritime activities.”

“Most of the fishermen are unbanked and lack access to credit facilities. Their development opportunities can be enhanced through credit facilities provided by microfinance institutions. In other countries, coastal communities have benefitted significantly through access to microfinance facilities, leading to an increase in their assets and income. We should also provide our rural communities with such facilities,” Nadeem added.

To support these fishermen, he said, the previous government launched Kamyab Pakistan Program. This program offers micro lending to individuals, with banks providing capital to microfinance institutions who lend further to the unbanked communities. Nadeem said micro loans were offered at concessionary rates for setting up business, purchase of assets, house building and vocational training. The coastal communities like other marginalized communities can benefit greatly from these subsidized schemes. So, this type of initiative must be promoted to upgrade the living standards of fishermen in Pakistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk