Fishing in Pakistan: Fishery and fishing industry plays a significant part in the national economy of Pakistan. It is one of the great primary industries of the world. Now a day fishing industry is not only meeting the local requirement but also export to the other countries. Pakistan has enough fishery resources that remain to be developed. Most of the population of the coastal areas of Sindh and Baluchistan depends on fisheries for livelihood. It is also a major source of export earnings. The fishing industry is the managed by the Fisheries Development Commissioner (FDC) under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MFAL) of Government of Pakistan. The office of the FDC is responsible for policy, planning and coordination with provincial fisheries departments and other national and international agencies. Some universities in the country are also involved in basic fisheries research.
Pakistan has many marine and inland fishery resources. There are about 16,000 fishing boats in coastal area of Pakistan which operate in shallow coastal waters as well as in offshore areas. There are 29 fish processing units in Pakistan with storage capacity of 10,000 tons, out of these 25 units are located in Karachi. Through this process, 8 establishments have already improved their conditions and were approve to export seafood to European Union countries. A substantial quantity of fish is consumed locally a remaining is exported. Fish is used as a meal as well as for manufacturing of different products. Fish oil is used for medicines and for industrial purposes like lubricating, soap making, tanning and tempering of steel.
Types of fisheries
There are three main types of recreational fisheries in Pakistan.
- Billfish and tuna fishing in the EEZ of Karachi
- Sport fishing (pelagic) in coastal waters
- Hand-line fishing (bottom fishing) in inter-tidal and shallow waters.
About 1,000 people with 120–150 fishing boats are involved in this sector.
Marine fisheries
Marine fisheries in Pakistan are being carried out on two distinct grounds i.e. coastline covering Mekran (Balochistan) as well as the coast of Karachi (Sindh). Karachi and Mekran being the most important fishing ports are being developed by the Government of Pakistan as a fishing centre. Inland fisheries are getting much popularity. Some inland resources include small rivers, dams (Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma), lakes (Haleji, Keenjhar and Manchhar), barrages, reservoirs, ponds and canals. Pakistan exports reasonable quantity of prawns, shrimp, fish and its products and earns a substantial amount of foreign exchange. Fish and fish products are processed and exported to many countries, European Countries being at the top. Major markets for export are: Canada, USA Denmark, Japan, Holland, Norway, Iceland, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore Malaysia, and Gulf. Read more
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