Fishermen in Gwadar are upset over the reappearance of deep-sea fishing trawlers in their area.

Local fishermen say only recently after several years had they started catching a decent amount of fish after years.

On March 18, the Haq Do Tehreek once again started a sit-in protest in Gwadar. Scores of protestors, led by Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman, blocked the main entrance of Gwadar Port to highlight the return of deep-sea fishing trawlers. The closure of Gwadar Port became a serious problem for the government that then held another round of talks with Rehman and persuaded him to postpone the sit-in.

On March 22, Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo met his counterpart in Sindh and raised the issue of illegal fishing in Balochistan’s waters. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that he had already directed the Fisheries Department to stop the fishermen from Sindh province to go fishing near Gwadar.

Although the government has been able to appease the protesters for now, the problem remains. Fisher folk make up 65 percent of Gwadar’s population. In November 2021, they had started a sit-in against fishing using trawlers. This protest, led by Rehman, had continued for over a month and attracted national attention.

Public pressure had forced Chief Minister Biznejo to directly negotiate with Rehman and persuade him to call off the protest in return for certain commitments made by the government.

That month-long protest had brought Hidayat ur Rehman considerable fame. He belongs to a fishermen’s family from Surbundan area of Gwadar. He had been a member of Islamic Jamiat-i-Talba (IJT), the student wing of Jamaat-i-Islami during his student days in Lahore in 2003. Later, he had joined Jamaat-i-Islami. He currently serves as the general secretary of its Balochistan chapter. He gave voice and courage to the fishermen community of Gwadar and For this, he has been lauded by the local civil society.

Maulana Hidayat and his supporters had presented many demands, including reducing the number of security check posts and making border trade with Iran easier. However, the primary demand was bringing an end to fishing by deep-sea trawlers, which is already an illegal activity.

There are almost 2,000 trawlers involved in illegal fishing in the sea off Gwadar. Deep-sea fishing trawlers have huge nets that catch all the fish and the eggs. This endangers fish populations in the sea. These trawlers have fully exploited the seas off Sindh and are now moving to the Balochistan shelf. Resultantly, there is less and less of fish for the local fishermen.

The protest organised by Maulana Hidayat in December had built up pressure on government of Balochistan as well as the federal government to act. As a result the entry of trawlers from Sindh was banned in the Balochistan shelf.

There are almost 2,000 trawlers involved in illegal fishing around Gwadar. Deep-sea fishing trawlers have huge nets. They catch all the fish and the eggs and endanger fish populations in the sea. These trawlers have fully exploited the sea along Sindh coast. Now they are moving to the Balochistan shelf. 

The local fishermen had reported an improvement in their catch. They had also reported finding new fish species in the sea near Gwadar.

However, when the federal government prevented deep-sea fishing trawlers from entering the coastal seas off Balochistan, their owners started protest demonstrations of their own. In February, the trawler owners blocked the main channel of Karachi Port with their boats for almost 34 hours. They thus completely suspended shipping activity in and out of Pakistan’s busiest port.

The government soon succumbed to the pressure and allowed the trawlers to resume deep-sea fishing. The protest by motorised steel trawler owners in Karachi proved far more effective than protests by fishermen using small wooden boats.

After the trawlers reappeared near Gwadar, the local fishermen again started complaining of a meager fish catch. This triggered a second wave of protest led by Rehman last week.

After persuading Maulana Hidayat to call off his protest, the officials of the Balochistan government started patrolling the seas with their boats. In an hour, they found more than 30 trawlers near Gwadar. When the officials warned the trawlers to leave the sea off Gwadar, they were pelted with stones and forced to turn back to Gwadar. They apparently lack the firepower required to deal with trawler operators. It now seems that only the federal authorities have the resources to deal with the trawlers.

Given the developments, the Maulana and his supporters are likely to resume their protest. They will most likely close down Gwadar Port by starting another sit-in in front of the entrance to the port. This will not bode well for operations or the international perception of Gwadar port.

A possible closure of the port will also add to the woes of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. It was revealed recently that work on the 300 megawatt power plant has been suspended after a Chinese insurance company refused to insure the project.

Gwadar, which currently receives a limited amount of electric power from Iran, cannot hope to develop without a reliable power supply. This will also prevent Gwadar port from expanding its activities once the demand increases. Closure or irregular operation of Gwadar port will result in severe damage to the reputation of Gwadar as a destination for foreign direct investment.

The federal government must work with the governments of Sindh and Balochistan to stop deep-sea fishing off Balochistan coast. The government needs to show the will to deal with powerful trawler owners ad refuse to be blackmailed. The alternative scenario is too unattractive to consider.

The writer is a journalist covering Balochistan, CPEC, politics and economy. He can be reached on twitter: @iAdnanAamir.