KARACHI: The share of Balochistan in fish exports is just peanuts in view when seen against the 770-km long marine fishing area. The province contributed just around 10 per cent of the $128 million export of fish and fish products during 2003-04. The potential of this vital industry has remained unexplored. The country’s total coastal area is around 1,100-km. The total fish production of the country during 2003-04 stood at 630,000 tons, of which the share of marine sector was 452,000 tons and inland (fresh water) contribution was 178,000 tons. Balochistan’s share in the total output was around 130,000-150,000 tons.
Citing the reasons for this poor performance, an official of the Marine Fishing Department told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the country as a whole and Balochistan in particular lacked the basic facilities to explore the potential of fisheries sector both marine and inland (fresh water). Furthermore, successive governments never encouraged investment in this sector of the economy.
The population of fishermen and the number of boats -– mechanized and mechanized-cum-sail boats -– is low and they are not using the latest methods for fish catching plus there is no proper cold storage/refrigeration facility on their boats, a basic requirement to preserve the seafood. “Despite all this, the continental shelf in Balochistan ranges between 10-15 kilometres whereas in Sindh it is as long as 70 kilometres.”
“There are only two harbours in Balochistan, Pasni and Gwadar, but the infrastructure of these harbours is not according to the international standards,” he said.
Non-development of road links between the coastal areas of Balochistan and Karachi, the main destination for the fish catch both for the domestic market and exports, has been a major obstacle which has always discouraged fishing activities in Balochistan. But, the official admitted that after the construction of the Coastal Highway, communication between Karachi and Pasni, Jiwani, Ormara, Gwadar, etc., has become smoother and the journey time reduced: now it takes six hours to reach Jiwani compared to five days.
“It is very encouraging to note that now in Balochistan eight seafood processing plants are working and out of this four units have been set up after the construction of the Coastal Highway,” he said. It not only brings investment to these areas but also helps in improving the economic condition of the adjacent villages of fishermen who are now able to sell their catch in Karachi or send it to fish processing plants operating in Gwadar, Pasni, Pishukan, Somiani Damb and Jiwani.
When asked about the export potential of this sector, the official said exports could be boosted to $1 billion in next 10 years provided the government encouraged the investment by giving incentives and concessions to local and foreign investors.
Seafood exports showed a declining trend during the current fiscal year because the government has imposed a ban on exports to the European Union, the largest buyer of Pakistan’s fish and fish products, because of the inability to meet the quality standards set by the EU. The government took this decision following the visit of an EU team which expressed its dismay over the poor hygienic conditions at the fishing processing plants.
Due to non-availability of proper facilities for preserving the seafood about 70 per cent of the total catch is wasted. If the government extends loans to fishermen to purchase the latest boats and trawlers, which have proper system of refrigeration, as well as set up ice factories near the harbours for freezing fish catch, the wastage ratio can be brought down to below 10 per cent, the official said.
According to the Economic Survey for 2003-04, fisheries’ share in the country’s GDP, though very small, contributes substantially to the national income through export earnings. During the period July-March 2003-04, 101,256 tons valued at Rs7.9 billion fish and fishery products were said to have been exported to Japan, the USA, UK, Germany, Middle East, Sri Lanka, China etc.
The total number of persons engaged in fisheries during 2003-04 is estimated at 395,000, out of which, 125,000 persons (31.6 per cent) were engaged in the marine sector and 270,000 (68.4 per cent) in inland fisheries. Persons engaged in fisheries sector in 2002-03 numbered 365,000 -– 138,000 (37 per cent) in marine and 227,000 (62.2 per cent) in inland fisheries. — MK
