Jul 03 2009
Proposed draft of complaint letter to CM Punjab by Munir Ahmed
Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
The Chief Minister Punjab
Chief Minister House
GOR-I
Lahore.
SUBJECT: ILLEGAL NETTING OF FISH IN RIVERS AND LAKES OF PUNJAB IN CLOSED MONTHS.
We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as an Association of like minded people from all over Pakistan, who have taken up recreational fishing as a sport and hence are very much concerned with the conservation of fisheries as well.
We are writing this letter to draw your attention to the fast depleting fish stocks due to unchecked, destructive and illegal netting of the fish in the closed months of JUNE, JULY and AUGUST throughout The Province of Punjab.
The above months have been declared closed for netting by The Punjab Fisheries Ordinance 1961 (First Schedule) to help the fish breed peacefully, in order to maintain a healthy population of fish in the waters of the Province and to ensure the continued livelihood of the commercial fishermen and supply of meat to the common man.
But unfortunately the Fisheries Department Punjab is unable to control commercial fishing in the closed months for the reasons best known to them, hence the commercial fishermen due to lack of education and knowledge, indulge in illegal netting for short term gains, totally ignorant of the fact, that they are destroying their own as well as livelihood of their future generations.
Sir, we have already lost our most prized and valuable fish, The Majestic Mahasher, which is now almost extinct in the waters of Punjab, due to illegal netting and killing of juvenile fish. The next fish in line to follow the same fate is our famous Rohu of Punjab.
We therefore, very strongly request you to please take necessary measures, to stop the illegal, unchecked and rampant netting of the fish in Punjab waters, otherwise we are afraid that, all the magnificent and beautiful rivers and lakes of Punjab will become fishless waters.
Pakistan Game Fish Association
July____, 2009.
Copy to Mr. Javed Mehmood, Chief Secretary, Government of the Pubjab, Lahore with the request kindly look into the matter. Sir I personally know you when you was in EAD. Sir, your the Officer who can solve such matters. Kindly direct your subordinate Department to resolve this issue. regards.
I like to say that why we people are fighting only for rivers and lakes situated in Punjab, we should straggle for all fishes available in our country because this is not only panjab problem, and as you mention in the first paragraph of your letter that “We are Association of like minded people from all over Pakistan”.
I request you to please think about it and work for whole country.
Thanks & Regards
Anwer
Thank you Munir Shb., from the early days till now you always help PGFA and contributed your best towards conservation.
Although the letter is perfectly written i have made small changes where necessary, please consider.
Here are my few cents:
”
We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as an Association of likeminded Pakistanis from all over Pakistan and the world; having member base of more than 3000 Anglers, who have taken up recreational fishing as a sport and hence are very much concerned with the conservation of our fisheries on which our game is based upon, Our charter also includes a special focus on a catch and release culture which shall ultimately help in the protection of fish ecosystems.
We are writing this letter to draw your attention to the fast depleting fish stocks due to unchecked, destructive and illegal netting throughout the Province of Punjab even in closed months of June, July and August when most of these species spawn.
The above months have been declared closed for commercial fishing by The Punjab Fisheries Ordinance 1961 (First Schedule) to help the fish breed peacefully, But unfortunately the Fisheries Department Punjab is unable to control illegal fishing for the reasons best known to them, hence the commercial fishermen due to lack of education and knowledge indulged in illegal netting for short term gains, they have totally ignorant of the fact, that they are destroying their own and their future generation’s livelihood.
Sir, we have already lost our most prized and valuable fish ”The Mighty Mahseer” where in neighboring country it’s a multimillion “Fishing Tourism Industry” attracting thousands of Sport Anglers from worldwide but unfortunately this elusive fish is almost extinct in the waters and are now considered threatened due to pollution, habitat loss, illegal netting, killing of juvenile fish and overfishing. The next fish in line to follow the same fate is our famous Rohu of Punjab.
We therefore, very strongly request you to please take necessary measures, to stop the illegal, unchecked and rampant netting of the fish in Punjab waters in order to maintain a healthy population of fish in the waters of the Province and to ensure the continued livelihood of the commercial fishermen, fishing for sport anglers and supply of meat to the common man; otherwise we are afraid that, all the magnificent and beautiful rivers and lakes of Punjab will become fishless waters.
“
Ali S,
I think your additions are very well done, following are my few cents.
We should try to add a few lines on how well CM Punjab is doing on various issues.
If not so difficult, another change in letter will be to offer our forum for helping Govt chalk out and implement any solution(s).
We may also propose to have a meeting as such letters tend to get forgotten if not followed by a meeting where, I am sure, a better explanation of the situation can be done.
regards,
K. Rabbani
Hi!
I think you can also make a sort of vote call from all over Pakistan about this letter. A copy of it can be posted on facebook or twitter for more involvement. You will also get more feedback about the condition of water reserves which are remotest and perhaps we dont know about them but the locals do. In case of any help required I will be pleased to be a helping hand on facebook or so.
As far as the letter is concerned I want to add that I am not practically involved in fishing but I have benefitted a lot from you website and pictures. PGFA is not only for people who fish but for all those who “care” for the fish.
Best f luck,
Regards
Mahseer and Rohu in a way are our “Heritage Fishes” which need to be protected for the generations to come.
i think this will be a great thing if Mr CM will put this letter under his consideration.
the letter is well written n so were the changes made in it!!!
i hope that we’ll get a good response from the authorities!!!
regards,
Mirza
As a native speaker, I hope that you don’t mind if I offer some (very minor) corrections to your excellent letter:
Dear Sir,
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as an Association of likeminded people from all over Pakistan and the world. We have a member base of more than 3,000 anglers, who have taken up recreational fishing as a sport and hence are very concerned with the conservation and viability of our fisheries. Our charter includes a special focus on a catch-and- release culture which should help in the protection of fish ecosystems.
We are writing this letter to draw your attention to the fast depleting fish stocks due to unchecked, destructive and illegal netting throughout the Province of Punjab even during the closed season (months of June, July and August) when most of these species spawn.
The above months have been declared closed for commercial fishing by The Punjab Fisheries Ordinance 1961 (First Schedule) to help the fish breed without hindrance. Unfortunately the Fisheries Department Punjab is unable to control illegal fishing for reasons that are not clear. Commercial fishermen, due to a lack of education and knowledge, indulge in illegal netting for short term gain. They are totally ignorant of the fact, that they are destroying their own and their future generation’s livelihood.
We have already lost our most prized and valuable fish “The Mighty Mahseer” whilst in a neighbouring country its existence supports a multimillion “Fishing Tourism Industry” attracting thousands of sporting anglers from all over the world. Unfortunately this elusive fish is almost extinct in our waters and are now considered threatened due to pollution, habitat loss, illegal netting, killing of juvenile fish, and overfishing. The next fish in line to follow the same fate is our famous Rohu of Punjab.
We therefore, very strongly request you to take the necessary measures, to stop the illegal, unchecked and rampant netting of fish in Punjab, in order to maintain a healthy population of fish in the waters of the province. We request this in order to ensure the continued livelihood of the commercial fishermen, the continuance of fishing for sport anglers and the supply of meat for the common man. We are very concerned that otherwise, all the magnificent and beautiful rivers and lakes of the Punjab will soon become fishless waters.
Very well written.So where do i sign??
AOA Munir Bhai, I really appreciate this great effort to save our heritage. I would like to suggest that please try to get some time to meet CM with Mr. Ali Saeed, i am sure it will help and we’ll get positive result as well.
Best Regards
i would like to commend fellow members for their true devotion to the sport of fishing and for taking practical steps in improving legislation and its implimentation. having said that i must say that it is my belief that this letter may not have the desired effect as we hope it might have. no matter how much new legislation(regarding fishing) is imported into this country it is of little use if it is not implimented and the enforcering departments are party to the illegal acts themselves. the Punjab wildllife department is also a great example of how not to run a government department for protection and rehabilitation of wildlife( if that is the intent in the first place).
i am of the belief that if we are to fight for the remaining fish stock of Punjab we must have a different approach than a letter to the CM. the letter is a good step but a single letter will do little…… the department of fisheries is knowingly and willingly killing off what they are paid to protect ……and they have been doing so for the past 60 years. just think how much the government spends on only the sallaries of the entire department, the number of men employed……..calculate the costs….it is enough to make one go mad……..when you think of what their out put has been. they are criminals as far as i am concerned. if a letter has to be written to the CM please tell him to sack the entire department aswell as every other governmnet department while he is at it., send the gentlmen home and let the Pakistani people be……i am sure we would be better off with no government institutions at all !!! after seeing what our government departments are doing to the nation i would like to propose a new system of governance …..it it called JUNGLE KA QANOON( LAW OF THE JUNGLE)……..i am sure things would be better off for the common man in this system of governance .
in other countries the department of fisheries and wildlife is ment to sustane and rehabilitate wild population of animals so generations ( OF COMMON MAN) to come may enjoy these gifts of god, and on the other hand we have our own beloved fisheries and wildlife department which seems to have the moto of ” kill what you can today , who knows if there is a tomarrow at all “.
i know many members would bash me for the remarks made but these are my beliefs. i donnot think the letter to the CM will undo all the wrong the government and we ourselves have done over the years to the fishiers. and i propse inorder to tackle this issue we must move out of cyberspace and into the real world by forming a strong group and deciding ( with guidance of senior members) what steps we must take to better our system….this will be a long and continuous battle against the government and can only be achieved once our group is strong and has a proper sence of direction. THE LETTER TO THE CM IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BUT IT IS JUST ONE STEP ……. I PROPSE A MEETING OF FELLOW MEMBERS OF PGFA AND IN THIS MEETING WE CAN FURTHER DISCUSS OUR FUTURE ACTIONS.
Jut
Dear All,
The letter and the changes are all well written, we do need to heed to Ammar’s remarks, here for the sake of reasoning I must say that dear Ammar your points are all valid But,….. if we need to take our message ACROSS there are others measures that has to be taken along with our letter to make it more effective .
1. Send a copy of this letter to all media,
2. For a Long Term Solution: All PGFA members and non member anglers doing fishing in any part of the country should document any illegal activity by taking pictures, videos or at lest date and location, name of personals if possible and send it to an appointed person of PGFA for making a complete report for a quarter, half yearly or annual. Than we can make assure that this document reaches at least the highest ranking officers of every province and capital.
3. Hold conference with the help of mutual friends on the topic and get the media involved.
4. The most important thing is to give remedies, as we all do know to take away the facilities by not giving alternatives. So the people totally dependent on Fishing should be given vocational training for alternate jobs during the breeding season, i.e. of three months so they can’t go hungry for that much time or some other appropriate alternative. Eco tourism is an Example.
5. Its about time that we should start contributing to PGFA to raise a fund for awareness activities on non profit basis. (A big Responsibility, but I am SURE “Ali Saeed” can take it).
All of us who want to do something are always hampered by our own predicaments and the biggest one being the “Rozgar”, we are a good group hence we should act like one and share responsibilities, anyone who can do even a little should pinpoint at their abilities, maybe not on the forum but through personal emails at least to “Ali Saeed”.
Hence implementation and sustenance of efforts are the KEY words here; CM Punjab does take lots of action on even small matters that I have seen by myself, so I personally think that there will be action taken by him but we need to know the exact nature of the action taken and ways to keep him inform for future.
With best regards
AAmir R
Dear All,
I am grateful that you all have spared your precious time and have commented freely and in detail on the proposed draft letter to CM.
Some valuable additions in the draft have been suggested, which have further improved the text and spirit of the letter.
I agree the problems are 101, but I have drafted this letter with one point agenda on my mind, the menace of killing fish with bellies full of eggs, you all can well imagine what is the real magnitude of loss being inflicted to fisheries by continuing this practice.
Currently I believe CM is the only person from whom you can expect a response, but what practical action he will be willing to take is again a big question mark. Frankly I dont expect much, hence I suggest our complaint be very simple, so if he wants to do something about it, it should be easy for him to understand and then act accordingly.
Then we should also understand that what ever we plan to do has to be done within the resources of PGFA. We all members are busy in our daily routines and hence sometime dont even find time to fish. May be in future as Amir has suggested we can contribute and increase resources of PGFA and might employ someone who can meet relevant people and we can advertise for our cause as well.
Regards
Munir
shani