KARACHI: Fisheries play a pivotal role in the national economy as they employ more than 5 million fishermen directly and thousands of others that are associated with this industry in various supplementary roles. The provinces of Sindh and Balochistan continuously plead from the government to issue well-planned, focused strategies on fisheries and aquaculture. If this is done, they believe, fishing and fish farming could be transformed into a major industry which is currently undermined by a lack of resources, awareness and poor policies.
If well-planned strategies are implemented this sector can be raised to new heights as a world-class industry in the country and earn more foreign capital by exporting fish and its by-products. The federal government is not only responsible for fisheries in the exclusive economic zone of the country. In fact, it also has an onus to issue policies that create inter-provincial coordination, planning, research, quality control, training, exploratory fishing, stock assessment, fisheries management, fleet improvement, data collection and exports.
“The country is blessed with rich fishing potential, as it lies in the northern part of the Arabian Sea and has a coastline of about 1,120 kilometres with a broad continental shelf,” noted biologist and Sindh Agriculture University Department of Parasitology Chairperson Professor Dr Abdullah G Arijo said this while talking to Bol News. He further added that, “the country’s exclusive economic zone extends upto 200 nautical miles from the coast.” Currently, there are many thousands of fishing boats in the coastal areas of the country which operate in shallow coastal waters and in offshore areas. These fishing boats undertake fishing trips that can last for a couple of hours to weeks depending on the type of fishing being done.
Aqauculture
According to Dr Arijo, when it comes to aquaculture – the process of breeding fish – in Sindh, the Thatta and Badin districts are highly suitable. This is because they contain vast land areas with ample water supplies, favourable soil, extensive irrigation and drainage networks, perfect temperature and climate for at least 10-months of the year.
At the moment fish farming in Thatta and Badin is being conducted on a low scale, meanwhile, in the Sanghar district there are scattered fish ponds or farms. With the proper attention, Sindh could become one of the leaders of the aquaculture industry in the country as it bristles with vast resources. Despite this, there is only hatchery in Sindh called Chilia Fish Farm near Thatta that is run by Sindh government which ensures the provisions of fry, fingerling and fish eggs to those looking to set up fish farms throughout the province, as the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department is eager to bankroll and support fish farming with loans and basic permissions.
If a state-of-the-art hatchery were set up it could greatly help improve fish farming by helping introduce convention and genetically improved species of fish that grow faster, including Tilapia, Rohu, Mrigal and Catla. What’s more is that both marine and fresh water bodies are virtually pollution-free in the region and labour is cheap at Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 a month.
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
Despite the country having incredible fishing potential, the industry as it functions now is taken place in a very saturated set of spaces. “2.5 million fishermen and women scrape their living from 1,219 freshwater bodies of Sindh including lakes and others in various districts, while another 2.5 and 3 million fishermen including Sindh and Balochistan belong to marine water,” Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Senior Leader Yasmeen Shah said.
She further maintained that local, small-scale fishers are continuing to suffer because fish stock in the sea and rivers is depleting a very fast pace. This is the consequence of ongoing over fishing by deep fishing trawlers that have been granted permits by the government. According to Yasmeen Shah, the lakes have also been polluted. This is because the sea has intruded and has annihilated four to eight million acres of agriculture land as the river bring silt and this silt keeps the sea away from freshwater bodies as water is not being released properly into the Kotri downstream, adversely impacting the livelihoods of fish farmers and growers. The PFF leader has urged that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’s Article 73, pertaining to the release of arrested citizens captured for crossing maritime borders, be implemented. She stressed that, in many cases fisherfolk accidentally cross over into nieghbouring sovereign borders as there are no physical boundaries and end up being detained for years.
Feed Mills
Another major issue is the lack of proper infrastructure provided to the fish feed producers, which has the potential to emerge as another major industry on its own if given the right attention. Currently, not a single feed mill exists in the country.
Fry and fingerling grow from fish that are fed balls made from rice-bran and cottonseed cake. Kenjhar Lake located near Thatta is one of the largest largest lakes in the country as it encompasses a 50 kilometre area and has a depth between 25 to 35 feet, making it ideal for cage aquaculture of trout. Besides, Pakistan has 1,120 kilometre long coastline spanning six locations including Badin,Thatta, Karachi, Pasni Gwadar and Ormara with huge potential of brackish water aquaculture and mariculture. There have also been a few attempts to culture shrimps but they remain largely unsuccessful as the basic requirements of shrimp culture, including the required feed and hatcheries, are non-existent in the country. Meanwhile, imported feeds are very expensive and it is really difficult for shrimps to acclimatise to a new place, situation and climate.
National Consumption and Exports
Pakistan’s domestic consumption is ranked six in the world at around 1 kilogramme per person being consumed per year, as compared with the world average of 16.2 kilogrammes per person a year. Moreover, in Balochistan the average person consumes as much as six kilogrammes of fish meat a year, as they consume the most fish meat in comparison to those hailing from other provinces of the country. The country is also a big exporter of fish. Pakistan currently exports fish to around 50 countries, including to the United States and European Union. This is because Pakistan boast a wide range of marine species. On the country’s coast there are more than 30 species of shrimps, 10 species of crabs, five species of lobster and around 70 commercial species of fish including tuna, mackerel, hilsa; locally-known as Pallah, sardine, shark, butterfish, pomfret, sole, sea bream, jewfish and catfish and eel.
Fish Harbours
The country has also been blessed with highly productive fish harbours including the Karachi Fish Harbour, Korangi Fish Harbour, Pasni Fish Harbour, Gadani Fish Harbour, Gwadar Fish Harbour and Ormara Fish Harbour. Majority of the people who live on in coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan scratch their meager living from fisheries, with hundreds of thousands of families being involved in the fish industry. Despite so many households relying on fishing for their livelihoods and its potential to turn into a major economic cash-cow for the national exchequer, the industry continues to be neglected. If the government were to pay it the attention due, it may well help alleviate the economic issues faced by rural coastal populations.
