Fishermen said that they are unable to trap fish like Red Bream and Jew Fish in the Karachi waters for about last two years. "The India mackral is also vanishing in the sea which is one of our primary sources of income," they said.
Marine experts also pointed industrial wastes flushing out direct into the seawater completely untreated as another major factor behind the marine animal's gradual but persistent extinction. "The extensive spoilage of the seawater with industrial chemicals like chromium has left bad impact on the marine life," they said. Shrimp species like Jaira, Kiddi, Kalri and Tiger are also facing gradual decline because of their undersized catch, they said, adding that crabs when they undergo breeding phase, are also picked up which brought their existence in peril.
Fishermen said that other species of the bream fish family are also becoming less available at the coast and alleged Karachi Port Trust (KPT) for carrying out continuous degrading unscientifically, and ignoring the very importance of marine life. "Red bream was sufficiently available at Karachi coast but for the last two years, has not been found. Its taste was completely unique and therefore had great appeal," they said. Now there is no safe place at the coast for the red bream breeding because of the excessive dredging by KPT in the area, which destroyed their hatcheries completely and made them flee other areas, they alleged.
Rejecting the experts' claim that the use of illegal nets caused the red bream extinction, President Bona Fide Fishermen and Boat Owners Welfare Association, Asif Bhatti said that it was always caught only with gillnet, which is lawful.
Crabs hatcheries are also completely disturbed which include rocks, mangroves and mud, as the chemical waste still continues to cause serious blow to their existence while their stocks have already declined phenomenally, he said. He alleged that KPT has dumped the mud, dredged from its navigational channel, at the outer of Manor Island, which not only made the sea waves uneven, but also caused migration of fishes and shrimps from the area.
"From 1940 until 1970, the mud extracted from the navigational channel would be dumped at Sandpit far from the coast while later, KPT began doing it right in front of the Manora Island which proved dangerous for marine life," Bhatti recalled. Later, when sea waves further became rough with the extensive mud dumping, the government built a seawall to protect the Manora Island coast from erosion, he said, adding that the new project of KPT to construct Pakistan's deep water terminal port will cost huge to the fishermen.