MINGORA:
Over 20 fishermen were arrested by the fisheries department over the past one week during a crackdown against illegal fishing in Swat River. The operation was launched on the directives of Special Adviser to Chief Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Mohibullah Khan.
“Raids were carried out at various locations along Swat River,” said the department’s assistant director Ilyas Khan on Tuesday. Cases were registered against all the detainees. Khan said illegal fishing harms the industry that employees thousands of people and the department is taking concrete steps in order to curtail it. He urged locals to remain vigilant of fishing activity in the neighbourhoods.
“Every year in winter, scores of anglers head to Swat River to catch fish,” Azmat Ali, a fisherman in Khawazakhela, told The Express Tribune. “They don’t watch out for small fish or eggs and kill them all in a large number,” lamented Ihtesham, another fisherman.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2014.
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