Steps being taken to attract tourists, says governor - Newspaper dawn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dawn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
THATTA: A 20-foot-long whale shark, classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, was accidentally trapped in a gill net set up by local fishermen in offshore waters off Khobar Creek and brought to shore for sale.
The fishermen told journalists that they tried to disentangle the giant fish but failed and then brought it to their village, Jhangi Sar, by tying it to the boat’s side. Since it was a holiday that day, they could not sell it in market and the fish was still in their possession, they said.
The whale shark is listed as endangered on the IUCN’s Red List. It is included in Appendix-II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is proposed to be included in Appendix-I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. It is also covered under other international instruments including the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, of which Pakistan is a member.
A STUNNING view of Astola Island.
KARACHI: A recent four-day diving expedition undertaken to evaluate the environmental conditions of Astola Island in Balochistan found “amazing wildlife and a very healthy and productive marine ecosystem”.
The team didn’t find any evidence of coral bleaching as has recently been noticed around the Churna Island.
According to a World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) statement released on Tuesday, the Indus scuba divers led by S.H. Momin Zaidi undertook surveys at important diving sites along Astola Island a Marine Protected Area and found coral and associated habitats teeming with marine life including important fish, such as barracuda, trevallies, hot-lips as well lobsters, fan-worm, sea urchins and soft corals.
WWF-Pakistan study finds very healthy marine ecosystem around Astola Islands
By
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
WWF says that it is a “sigh of relief” that there were “no reports of coral bleaching near Astola Island” as it would have seriously affected the coral and associated marine life. Photo: File
Latest expedition reveals amazing wildlife and healthy ecosystem along Astola Islands.
Expedition was taken as it was feared that the Astola Island “may be at risk” ever since reports of coral bleaching near Churna Island had come forward.
Expedition team finds coral and associated habitats “teeming with marine life”.
KARACHI: A team of scuba divers have found that a “very healthy and productive marine ecosystem” continues to exist around the Astola Islands despite the coral bleaching reported near the Churna Islands.