ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: Pakistan will utilize the satellite communication system to check encroachment on its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Arabia Sea through GPS (Global Position System).

“To be installed at each vessel of the Fisheries Department and Maritime Security Agency, the infrastructure being developed for this purpose would also enable capture of the vessels involved in illegal poaching in our waters,” an official source in the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) told Dawn.

Fisheries, being a source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan, is also a major item of export. The country exported 85,282 tons in 2001-02 and fetched $125.5 million. This constituted 15.7 per cent of total exports of primary commodities by Pakistan.

Apart from exports, fisheries is a vital source of livelihood for the coastal inhabitants. The official statistics put the total number of persons engaged in fisheries sector during 2001-02 at 3,61,000. Out of this, 37.9 per cent were engaged in marine sector and the rest in inland fisheries.

According to the Economic Survey 2001-02, the production of fisheries was 654,500 tons during July-March, 2001-02.

Besides protecting fisheries resources from alien poachers, the source said, MINFAL would acquire a state-of-the-art fisheries research vessel. Estimated to cost Rs385 million, it would be assembled locally over a period of two years. Through the vessel, the source stated, the ministry would monitor and see changes in the fish stock.

The ministry, he further stated, was also cognizant of the growing concern over the possible depletion of the fisheries resources through various factors, including mainly over-extraction. A project has, therefore, been launched to establish fish hatcheries that would go a long way towards neutralizing somewhat the effects of over-extraction and maintaining the stock at sustainable level.

Under the project, the Fisheries Department would release fish larvae into the sea. Besides, these would also be provided to the interested farmers for use in their private fish tanks and water reservoirs.