This week 50 years ago: Fish scarcity and piano recital.
Byline: Peerzada SalmanIT was a strange beginning to the year 1968. On Jan 1, hundreds of fishing vessels lay anchored at the Karachi Fish Harbour after being refused 'port clearance' by the Sea Customs Department. The fishermen were not allowed to leave the port because the department said their launches were not equipped with life boats, life jackets, fire extinguishers and headlights. The fishermen at the harbour replied that it was for the first time they had received such an order, and they did not need the new equipment. Referring to their long years of experience, the fishermen argued they had been going fishing without those costly gadgets. They had known for generations how to take care of themselves as well as their vessels during deep-sea fishing. They claimed before approaching the Sea Customs for port clearance they had filled in their launches with salt, ice, necessary ration and diesel. Their only plea was that the order should be applied to vessels not less than 70 feet in length launches below 70 feet in length, they pointed out, generally did not do deep-sea fishing. [Here, it should be mentioned that the Mercantile Marine Department and the Department of Marine Fisheries in an order had directed fishermen to equip their boats with the above-mentioned safety appliances by Dec 31, 1967.]
The issue lingered on for a few days. So, on Jan 5 more than 200 fishermen, boat owners, fish exporters and storage plant owners held a joint meeting and urged the government to extend enforcement of the order by three months. The meeting expressed concern that if their appeal was not considered sympathetically, 400,000 fishermen in Karachi would be forced out of their profession. A 10-member committee was formed to hold discussions with the authorities concerned. Haji Pir Mohammad, president of the Fish Exporters Association, said about 75,000 families would suffer starvation and their income would be stopped forever if the situation persisted.
The next day, the fishermen changed their position a bit. They appealed to President Ayub Khan for intervention and requested him that they should be given six months to equip their vessels with safety appliances. In a telegram to the president they said the entire fishing fleet of West Pakistan had been at a standstill from Jan 1 due to the refusal of the Sea Customs to issue clearance permits. This had resulted in a loss of foreign exchange earnings to the extent of Rs500,000 daily. They accepted that the fishermen had been ignorant of the regulations of safety equipment.
The situation came to such pass that the prices of sweet-water fish went up by over 50 per cent in four days, following a drastic reduction in the supply of sea-water fish. However, a small quantity of fish was being supplied to the market by those individual fishermen who fished at Korangi Creek and Rehri near Landhi. Most of the high-end hotels and restaurants in the city had some stock in their cold storage to last for a few more days. But by and large, the city became dependent upon sweet-water fish supplied from Haleji and Kalri lakes.
Let's move from the world of oceans to the world of music, because Karachiites can compromise on anything but not on their cultural life. On Jan 6, German pianist Herbert Seidemann began his Asian tour with a piano recital at the Goethe Institut in Karachi. Starting with Chopin's sonata in B-Minor, Seidemann brought out the highlights of 19th Century piano music and abundance of melodies. In Chopin's 'funeral march' underlying the sonata, he played the last movement racing triplets with both hands with dexterity. The second piece he played was Schumann's Symphonic Etudes in forms of variations. He preformed the piece, one of Schumann's most difficult compositions, with richness despite the intricacies, rapid chord passages and wide stretches. His best performance was the recital of the three musical poems of Ravel's 'Gaspard de la nuit', 'Le Gibet', and 'Scarbo'.
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| Publication: | Dawn (Karachi, Pakistan) |
|---|---|
| Date: | Jan 1, 2018 |
| Words: | 721 |
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