Appetite for fish exports

Pakistan witnessed a rare boom in the country’s fish exports in the last fiscal year when both the quantity and the value of fish rose by 20 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. That this happened at all is nothing short of a miracle given the setbacks of the last three years during which the United States and the European Union suspended seafood imports from Pakistan as did Saudi Arabia. None of this however could prevent a windfall increase in fish prices in the global market and a chance landing of higher catch.

The fisheries department has adopted a more guarded approach. Rather than wait for other countries to suspend seafood exports from Pakistan, the department wants to recoup the lost markets by turning to alternative strategies. The time is ripe perhaps for value-addition options. To explore and find these, we ought to first develop a research and development wing through the assistance of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and some of the country’s major universities. For this purpose, some hefty funds will be required — the kind that could sustain quality research. The fisheries sector needs to be fitted with the latest technological equipment if it aspires to improve and fetch top dollar in foreign exchange earnings. The sector would also profit enormously from potential investors and entrepreneurs from Japan and China.

Investment in aquaculture and shrimp farming ought to be promoted at all levels. There are equally important tasks to be undertaken such as promoting joint ventures between foreign and local investors in the fisheries sector and enforcing quality management and establishing regulatory framework to promote the fisheries sector. None of these goals can be achieved until an enabling environment is created in collaboration with the government amid greater coordination between national and provincial authorities on aquaculture and shrimp farming.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2018.

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