By Kamran Chaudhry
Fisherman Izhaq Abbas was sweating profusely under the sweltering October sun as he returned empty-handed to the beach in Karachi, Pakistan’s port city on the Arabian Sea coast.
The 41-year-old catches fish using traditional methods and a non-motorized raft, locally called a Taapa, made of package cushioning and maneuvered with a 15-foot bamboo pole.
A fourth-generation fisherman, Abbas says the sea has been behaving strangely lately, and a good catch is rare even during the height of the fishing season, at the end of the monsoon.
“We used to fill our boats, but fishing is no more a gainful occupation. Every year, the catch is decreasing in our area around 10 kilometers from the coast,” the maximum sailing range for their small boats.
“The water temperature and weather are changing, but what can we do?” the father of six said.
Abbas’ plight represents the ordeal faced by the fishing community in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest metropolis and home to more than 20 million people.
Many fishermen like Abbas live in Somar Goth, a dusty and smelly fishing village near the city.
Abbas lives with his seven-member family in a small room in a cramped compound, also home to his three brothers and their families.
Every time he ventures out to sea, he looks to make a decent income, but his hopes are almost always dashed.
Despite fishing for many years, he hasn’t managed to own a boat, which costs at least 800,000 rupees (US$2,877).
Usually, he fishes from dawn to noon and sells his catch for 150-500 rupees, depending on the species.
“I can barely feed my family with the meager earnings,” he said.
Abbas’ plight is compounded by the agony of his eight-year-old son, Ahmad, who has been paralyzed from waist down from birth.
Fisherman Izhaq Abbas shows his catch at Keamari harbor in Karachi Pakistan on Oct. 17 2024. (Photo: Izhaq Abbas)
‘Prepared for disasters’
Despite his worries, Abbas remains resolute about helping fellow fishermen prepare for the sea’s vagaries.
He is part of a 15-member volunteer team known as the Disaster Management Committee, which is trained to assist others during emergencies at sea.
The team members have been trained to use an emergency kit containing a first aid box, a waterproof flashlight, a lifebuoy ring, a folding stretcher, and a life jacket. They can use the kit to rescue others from the sea when in danger.
The Catholic charity Caritas Karachi sponsors the initiative under its Humanitarian Support for Flood Prevention, Response and Recovery Project.
Caritas has been collaborating with the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), a Karachi-based NGO that works among the fishing community. It has an estimated 60,000 registered members, like Abbas.
Mansha Noor, head of Caritas’s work in Karachi, says the agency is the only Catholic organization supporting the fishing community, though no Christian is engaged in fishing in Karachi.
Noor said that the vulnerability of fishermen to natural disasters such as tidal waves and cyclones prompted the initiative.
“Our volunteers can reduce emergency risks triggered by natural disasters and save lives as well as possible losses in case of cyclones, heavy rain, and thundershowers in the coastal belt,” he told UCA News.
Sarfraz Anwar (second from right), from Caritas Pakistan is pictured during a training session with members of the Disaster Management Committee at Somar Goth in Karachi, Pakistan, on Aug. 30, 2024. (Photo: Kamran Chaudhry)
Land adds to sea woes
PFF Secretary General Saeed Baloch says the gradual temperature rise has become noticeable in Karachi over the past seven years, sparking strange sea conditions, such as strong currents that make regular fishing difficult.
Baloch, one of the PFF’s founders, blames rapid urbanization and industrial pollution for rising temperatures.
He noted that Karachi has become “a jungle of concrete” where only air conditioning can offer respite from heatwaves during prolonged summer days.
“Street trees and green spaces have been removed to construct new buildings and apartment complexes,” he told UCA News.
He added that besides rising temperatures, hazardous emissions from vehicles and factories regularly causes smog to blanket the city during winter sparking an increase in respiratory ailments.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, Karachi will experience a shorter winter this year, and the temperature is expected to drop only in mid-December.
Baloch says heatwaves during summer have become commonplace in Pakistan nowadays.
This year, nearly 700 people died due to heatwaves and heat-related ailments as the mercury rose above 40 degrees Celsius in various parts of the country, according to the Edhi Foundation, one of the world’s largest networks of ambulances and homeless shelters.
A fisherman is pictured while steering a Taapa, a rickety raft cushioned with plastic sacks or discarded fishing nets, in Keamari harbor in Karachi, Pakistan in Oct. 17, 2024. (Photo: Kamran Chaudhry)
‘Verge of collapse’
“Both climate change and environmental degradation are affecting the port city, especially vulnerable groups like the fishing community,” said climate activist Ahmad Shabbar.
He said that government systems do not recognize workers in unorganized sectors and that they “lack support like social security or old age benefits.”
“The disappearance of mangrove forests around Karachi has affected the seabed, water currents, commercial fisheries and increased the effects of cyclones,” he said.
Despite climate change, Abbas trusts traditional methods to understand sea behavior and storms. These include wind patterns, bird flight routes, bubbles on the surface, and sudden sea level changes.
“But these patterns are changing and sometimes go wrong now,” he said.
As he walks, Abbas points at a seaside mosque where he and others gather for daily prayers and Friday worship.
The strong waves pound the boundary wall, which shows signs of deterioration from constant exposure to saline wind. Abbas fears that one day, the sea might swallow the mosque.
“Everything around me looks like it’s on the verge of collapsing. We must do something,” was his explanation for joining Caritas’ efforts to protect nature and human life.
Shields of mangroves
These efforts include restoring the ailing mangrove forests, food support for local communities, de-salination, and improving hygiene, such as building toilets and providing drinking water.
In 2012, Caritas began efforts to revive the mangroves and planted about 30,000 mangrove trees on islands along Karachi’s coastline.
In October last year, the Catholic charity joined the PFF in planting 5,000 mangrove seeds in Rehri Goth, a coastal community on the outskirts of Karachi.
Caritas official Noor said his agency plans to plant 10,000 to 15,000 mangrove seeds annually in May and October.
Izhaq Abbas (fourth left) is seen while setting out to sea with the aid of other fishermen at Keamari harbor in Karachi, Pakistan, on Oct. 17, 2024. (Photo: Izhaq Abbas)
“What we plant are not saplings. We plant seeds collected by our volunteers in the fisher community or donated by the forest department,” he said.
“These initiatives aim to restore failing mangrove forests amid deforestation, which has jeopardized the fishing industry and resulted in the loss of vast tracts of the delta region.”
Mangroves are “lifelines for fishing communities, providing essential breeding grounds for marine life and a sustainable livelihood for the poor.”
“They also act as natural shields against cyclones and protect coastal areas from extreme weather by cooling the atmosphere, stabilizing sea levels, and helping combat climate change.”
Mangroves are also known to be a natural protection against sea erosion, he said.
Disasters threaten industry
Pakistan’s fishing industry is based in Karachi, which handles 90 percent of the country’s catch. The port city is also the primary marketing hub for the fishing industry.
However, reports show climate disasters have hit the industry in recent years.
According to government sources, many tropical cyclones expected to hit Karachi have changed course since 1976, sparing the city from direct impacts.
However, heavy rain and flooding in Karachi and other parts of Sindh province have wreaked havoc.
This year, at least 24 people died due to heavy rain and flooding in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces triggered by Cyclone Asna in late August.
Major cyclones, all originating in the Arabian Sea, such as Phet in 2010, Nilofar in 2014, Tauktae in 2021, and Biparjoy in 2023, veered away from the city yet left behind significant damage because of torrential rain.
Muhammad Moazzam Khan, a technical adviser with the World Wildlife Foundation in Pakistan, says the frequency of cyclones has increased, causing heavy rain, strong winds, and flooding that impact Karachi and other coastal areas.
“One or two cyclones used to hit in the 60s and 70s. But nine major cyclones have hit us in the past decade. There is a strong link between climate change and climate variability,” he told UCA News.
Fisherman Abdul Latif is pictured with his son Mohsin in front of his house in Somar Goth, Karachi, Paksitan on Oct. 17, 2024. (Photo: Kamran Chaudhry)
No future in fishing
The impoverished fishermen are struggling to buy enough food amid soaring inflation and the resultant price hikes hurting the country’s strained economy. Reports say that food prices have increased by 35 percent in the past year.
Pakistan’s economy began to nosedive in 2002 when devastating flooding hit the country, and the world economy took a downward turn. Pakistan escaped an economic collapse, and it’s economy has been recently bolstered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which authorized a US$7 billion loan in September.
But that has not helped the family of Abdul Latif in Karachi’s Somar Goth fishing village.“Our income has dropped, and we have less food to eat,” said Latif, a father of two.
Almost daily, Latif brings in some mullet fish, which are found in the brackish water and are the primary source of protein for many fishing families like his.
“We can afford mutton only during Eid festivals or weddings,” said Latif’s wife, Nazia Hasan.
She showed the decayed front door of the house covered with discarded fishing nets, which the family cannot afford to replace.
She is still hopeful that her children will get an education at least up to grade ten in a low-cost local school and have a better future by securing a government job.
“My son insists on going to the sea daily, but I can only see fishermen suffering. We want a stable future for him,” she said.
source : uca news