KARACHI: The federal government claims to have achieved a record $568 million in fish exports in FY26, but data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) show exports of less than $500m, creating confusion.

On July 9, Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry had issued a statement claiming Pakistan’s exports of fish and fish preparations reached a record $568m in FY26.

However, the PBS data showed that fish exports stood at $482m (215,170 tonnes) in FY26 versus $465m (216,482 tonnes) in FY25, a marginal drop of 0.61pc in quantity but a meagre rise of 3.6pc in value.

Faisal Iftikhar, former CEO of the Fisheries Development Board and ex-chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association, told Dawn on Thursday that the discrepancy in export data between the two sources arises from their distinct methodologies.

Maritime affairs minister claims $568m, PBS shows $482m

He said the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) accurately records exports that have departed our ports up to June 30. Conversely, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics obtains its data from the State Bank of Pakistan, which meticulously tracks all export proceeds credited by June 30.

“Previously, PBS was our sole reliable data source; however, with the advent of PSW, this variation has emerged. Both sources provide accurate information, but due to their differing operational approaches, their figures will consistently exhibit slight deviations,” Mr Iftikhar said.

The federal minister said frozen fish remained the leading export commodity with earnings of $105.09m, followed by frozen squid and cuttlefish ($103.71m), fish meal ($83.12m), shrimps ($62.14m), crabs ($36.89m), sardines ($30.62m), mackerels ($22.67m), flat fish ($17.24m), octopus ($15.18m) and minced fish meat (surimi) ($14.63m).

Seafood exports were shipped mainly to China, Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Indonesia and the United States.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2026