FISH sector plays an important role in the economy. Although its share in GDP is less than one per cent but it contributes substantially to the national income. Fish exports in 2002-03 was valued at Rs7,867 million with four per cent growth rate as against 3.8 per cent in agriculture. The sector engaged a labour force of about 3,56,500 of which 38 per cent were in marine and 62 per cent in inland fisheries. With increasing population, fish has potentials to meet beef, mutton and poultry meat deficiencies. The main fish components not found in other foods are Omeg-3 fatty acids, Eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and Docsahexaanoic (DHA). The fatty acids are beneficial in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart diseases, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and auto-immune diseases.
The DHA is essential for proper functioning of eye and brain. Fish liver is used in cholesterol lowering and other pharmaceutical products such as insulin. It is a rich source of vitamins A, D, E and K, and is also essential for human health. But the per capita consumption of fish in Pakistan is around two kg as against the required 22kg.
Nature has gifted the country with over 1,000 fish species along its 1,050km long coast line of Sindh and Mekran coast of Balochistan. The 350 miles Sindh coast extends from Karachi to the Indian border in the east has a network of creeks rich in fish fauna. The 700km long Mekran coast extends from west of Karachi to Iranian border and is characterized by a number of bays such as Jiwani, Gawadar, Pasni, Ormara and Sonmiani.
Some popular species along our coast are shrimps, pawn, lobsters, croakers, tuna, Hilas, sardines, pomfert, bonito, catfish, red snappers, groupers, grunter, barred red, cord, tongue soul, guitar fish, queenfish, ribbon fish, sea beams, sardlinellas, shades, scads and others.
Inland fisheries are located in the River Indus and its tributaries with 16,666km canals 5,995km, dams, reservoirs, barrages, lakes, ponds etc.There are about 100 lakes such as, Kinar Lake 120sq.m, Manchar lake 160sq km, and Haloji lake 18 sq m. Similarly, there are large areas of waterlogged soils, culturable wastelands, dhoras, slices and depressions which offer a good potential for inland fisheries. Some known inland fisheries are chenabe, mahasheer, pala, trout, rohu, mori, thailaba, merigel carps, catla, kalbons, goianch, boali, murrel etc.
In the Northern areas total length of rivers and streams is 2,187km out of which 678km have crystal clear water with no silt and turbidity which is suitable for rainbow trout and brown trout production.
Similarly, there are over 30 lakes and several ponds having an area of 15,000sq meter, and 97 per cent of which is suitable for brown trout. Of the total number of farms over 96 per cent are below subsistent level. Trout farming has potential to increase their income but is hampered by the limited availability of fish seed due to mortality, mismanagement, diseases, and lack of awareness.
Performance and poor marketing of the concerned department are some constraints which need the attention of the policy makers. Similar situation prevails in the AJK and the NWFP which too, have good potentials for trout production.
In the NWFP there are plenty of fresh water resources such as Kabul, Swat, Chitral, and Kurrum rivers. Unfortunately, the rivers of Malkand Division namely Swat, Brandu, Panjkora, Alpuri and Chitral are suffering from hydrological degradation, a threat to fish production. There are 11 endangered fish species in the River Swat alone known as swati, thalk churn, degai, mahasheer, gulabi, kalasar, maronahai britai, singi etc. The other problems are over-fishing, including in the breeding season, undersized fishing and fishing through genocidal methods such as dynamiting, poisoning, electrocuting, etc.
The share of the NWFP in inland fisheries production was 0.84 per cent in 1987 which declined to 0.70 per cent in 2002. These observations suggest the need to fully exploit inland fisheries potential in the NWFP, the Northern Areas and the AJK by adopting modern technology.
Despite production potential, Balochistan, so far, has not made any contribution to the inland fish production. Major contribution comes from Sindh and Punjab. In 2002, the share of Sindh in the national inland fish production of 183 thousand tons was 64 per cent and of Punjab 36 per cent.
The marine fisheries production is exclusively confined along the coast of Sindh and Balochistan. For instance, of the total national marine fish production of 454.5 thousand tons in 2002-03, the share of Sindh was 70 per cent and of Balochistan 30 per cent.
Export of both marine and inland fish increased from 20,000 tons in 1980-81 to 93,000 ton in 2002-03. Foreign exchange earnings increased from Rs559 million to Rs7,867m during this period. However, due to inept policy and traditional fishing practices only 10-12 per cent of the total catch is exported. The rest is not exported due to lack of handling and landing facilities and the absence of storage facilities on board. The remaining catch becomes a low grade fish meal of which 50 per cent is consumed locally and the remaining 30 per cent discarded and thrown back into the sea. This results in the loss of foreign exchange earnings.
Pakistan’s sea food exports have a potential of earning $2 billion annually by upgrading the post-harvest processing and maintaining quality according to international standards through applying modern techniques. The inept policies and mismanagement in fisheries sector do not let its potentials to be exploited fully.
There are many organizations dealing in this sector such as Minfal, the Department of Marine Fisheries Karachi, the Fisheries Development Commissioner Islamabad and provincial departments of fisheries, the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority, the Korangi Fish Harbour (KFH) etc., with different administrative controls and weak linkages among each other. Not only the sector is suffering but over two million fishermen living along the national coastal belt too are facing serious socio-economic problems.
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was extended to 200 nautical miles in the sea from the coastline by Pakistan in 1976. It provided great chance for judicious exploitation of fisheries potential. But due to inconsistent policies and mismanagement this potential could not be fully exploited. The deep sea fishing was started in 1982 under a policy of joint ventures but was abolished in 1986 due. Again in 1989 a new policy was allowed to trawlers and vessels bearing the Pakistani Flag. It was followed by a number of policies with the objective of acquiring technology and developing fleet. None could succeed due to the corruption and mismanagement.
A new policy was developed by Minfal in 1995, according to which coastal area beyond the provincial limit of 12 nautical miles was divided into two zones. Zone one was between 12-35 and zone two between 35-200 nautical miles. The fishing rights in zone one were reserved for local fishermen, while in zone two trawlers were allowed for deep fishing after obtaining licenses from Minfal. The licensed foreign trawlers were not only over-fishing but were also violating the zone reserved for the locals.
Consequently, the policy was again revised in 2001. According to this policy the marine area of Pakistan’s sea was divided into three zones. Zone one comprising of 0-12 nautical miles was reserved for traditional fishermen and Zone two, comprising between 12-35 nautical miles for licensed medium-sized trawlers. This virtually deprived the traditional fishermen of their earlier fishing rights up to 35 nautical miles. Technical and capital requirements for operation in zone two further closed the doors for the small traditional fishermen who could not compete with the multi-million investors.
Zone three was reserved for large foreign deep sea fishing vessels after receiving licenses from Minfal. These foreign vessels are required to land their catch at the KFH for export. But most not only over-fish but violate Zone two and near the coastline. Many instead of landing their catch at the KFH directly take their catch to the Middle Eastern countries causing heavy loss to the country due to mismanagement, inefficient monitoring and corruption at various levels. To check malpractices, the government should evolve a fool-proof policy.
It should keep in view the interest of traditional fishermen by assisting them in adopting modern methods, improving post harvest technologies, modernizing the industry, affectively monitoring activities of foreign trawlers to ensure that they follow the rules. It should improve the facilities at harbour. The government should also be careful in issuing licenses to foreign fishing vessels.
