The Pakistani delegation have returned home on Monday after taking part in the Global Conference on Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries (4SSF) held from October 13 to 17,2008 in Bangkok, Thailand organized by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration with Department of Fisheries Thailand, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and World Fish Center (WFC).
As per detail, Pakistan Fisher folk Forum (PFF) as a member of World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) took part in the conference attended by delegates from 70 countries including fishers, members of civil society, academics, activists and researchers.
The Pakistani delegation headed by Abdullah Khoso Communication Officer PFF reached in the metropolitan after taking part in the event.
Upon his return, Abdullah shared with his team at PFF that 4SSF began with an aim of a process of developing an approach to small scale fisheries management that bring together perspectives on responsible fisheries with the social development need and rights of fishing communities. While having deliberations on this aim, it was ensured that the approach to fisheries management is gender just is extremely challenging, as the rights of women.
He said that small scale fishing communities and indigenous communities depended on fisheries for life and livelihoods and declared that the human rights of fishing communities were indivisible and that the development of responsible sustainable small scale and indigenous fisheries was possible only if their political, civil, social, economic and cultural rights were addressed in an integrated manner. He advocated that three themes were discussed during the 4SSF, which were Securing Sustainable resources use, and access rights; securing post harvest benefits; securing; securing social, economic and human right.
Giving the further details of the event, the PFF official said that, Dr Plodprasop Suraswadi, Deputy Director General to the Prime Minister of Thailand in his keynote address recognized that fisheries development over the last 100 years had been flawed because the focus had been on fish resources and not on the resources users.
The widespread degradation of marine and physical and living resources and the worsening conflicts among the resources have served as a testimony of a management failure.
Dr Suraswadi stressed on the importance of moving towards a ‘people focused strategy involving the grass roots as partner in the development’ to build upon the strengths of fishers, their commitment to the sustenance of fishery resources, and their familiarity with the fishing ground and the ecosystem, and the governments should not act as their patron.
While, Simon Funge-Smith of the Asia Pacific Fisheries Commission (APFIC) said in his address that the problems arising from interactions between small scale and industrial fisheries were very pressing in the region.
Muhammad Ali Shah, Chairperson PFF, shared that PFF would be part of global surge of fishers for their rights and would stick to the rights based fisheries that encompasses every aspect and every process.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Karachi/21-Oct-2008/Fisheries-delegation-returns
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Save Ramsar sites
IN the second week of September about 35 buffaloes wroth Rs 2.5 million died in villages around the Nerri Lake in Badin district. The buffaloes had consumed water from the Nerri Lake.
So far no one has come to help the families who have lost their buffaloes, a source of their income.
Unfortunately, the department and the organisation concerned are not doing anything to save the ecology of the lake, which is being destroyed by the Left Bank Outfall Drainage effluent, as well as by continuous flow of poisonous chemicals from some sugar mills in Badin district.
Since 2004 the LBOD’s poisonous effluent is flowing into the lake, while some sugar mills of Badin district have been pouring dangerous chemicals into it since the 90s. This has destroyed the ecosystem of the lake.
Sadly, there are no treatment plants with these mills. Although the locals, particularly the poor fisherfolks, have shown great concern about the lake being polluted, nothing is being done.
Once this lake had enough flora and fauna and was a great source of livelihoods for the poor fishermen and peasants, but now it is almost ruined.
We are blessed with rich wetlands which have unique biodiversity and habitat. To this day, Pakistan has 19 Ramsar sites which have been seriously degraded over the last 50 years due to unsustainable national policies on water and environment.
I would request government and non — government agencies working on environment in Pakistan to start prompt investigation into the matter and adopt measures to save natural resources of the country. I would also request the Ramsar organisation to help enforce the Convention of Wetlands in Pakistan.
ABDULLAH KHOSO
Karachi
http://dawn.com/2008/10/01/letted.htm#4
So far no one has come to help the families who have lost their buffaloes, a source of their income.
Unfortunately, the department and the organisation concerned are not doing anything to save the ecology of the lake, which is being destroyed by the Left Bank Outfall Drainage effluent, as well as by continuous flow of poisonous chemicals from some sugar mills in Badin district.
Since 2004 the LBOD’s poisonous effluent is flowing into the lake, while some sugar mills of Badin district have been pouring dangerous chemicals into it since the 90s. This has destroyed the ecosystem of the lake.
Sadly, there are no treatment plants with these mills. Although the locals, particularly the poor fisherfolks, have shown great concern about the lake being polluted, nothing is being done.
Once this lake had enough flora and fauna and was a great source of livelihoods for the poor fishermen and peasants, but now it is almost ruined.
We are blessed with rich wetlands which have unique biodiversity and habitat. To this day, Pakistan has 19 Ramsar sites which have been seriously degraded over the last 50 years due to unsustainable national policies on water and environment.
I would request government and non — government agencies working on environment in Pakistan to start prompt investigation into the matter and adopt measures to save natural resources of the country. I would also request the Ramsar organisation to help enforce the Convention of Wetlands in Pakistan.
ABDULLAH KHOSO
Karachi
http://dawn.com/2008/10/01/letted.htm#4
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