No foreign trawlers are fishing in the territorial waters of Pakistan and the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) is monitoring the activities of licensed vessels by satellite, said Sikandar Hayat Bosan, state minister for agriculture, on Friday.
The minister told the Senate that deep-sea fishing was not allowed in Pakistan’s territorial waters, which extend up to 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
He said the fishing, however, was allowed in zone II, which extended from 12 to 35 nautical miles. He said only one foreign ship was stopped last year and fined Rs 1.9 million for the violation. He said the security of the zone 1 – 0 to 12 nautical miles — was the responsibility of the provinces and the MSA was manning zone II. He said that only Pakistani companies were allowed to fish in Pakistan’s waters. Senator Rukhsana Zuberi had contended that foreign trawlers were fishing in Pakistan’s waters rendering local fishermen jobless. Mr. Bosan assured that efforts would be intensified to ensure that no unauthorized trawler entered Pakistan’s territory.