ISLAMABAD- The government needs to focus on shrimp farming to increase the export of seafood from Pakistan and raise foreign exchange reserves, WealthPK reports.
The export of seafood is the fifth largest foreign exchange earner for Pakistan and shrimps are an important part of this trade. The volume of shrimp exports from Pakistan to China is currently $400 million.
The fisheries industry is essential for the livelihoods, nutritional needs and food security of many Pakistanis, particularly those living close to the country’s coast.
Faisal Iftikhar, Chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association, Karachi, told WealthPK that fishing was an important source of income for the people living along the coasts in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces of the country.
“Exporting shrimp can generate a sizable sum of foreign exchange for Pakistan. Shrimp is also the cheapest source of protein for poor people. Since there are no fish or shrimp hatcheries in Pakistan, all of the country’s aquaculture requires the import of young fish, which are then raised and used for either local consumption or export,” he said.
Faisal Iftikhar said that Pakistan should focus on expanding aquaculture as it would help in increasing the profit of export. “We must start our own shrimp farming. The government should set up shrimp-producing aquaculture towns for fishermen. A one-acre farm may help fishermen to make $25,000 per year,” he added.
He said that the establishment of such towns would enable farmers to produce more shrimp and raise the export capacity of the country besides boosting the fisheries sector.
“In Punjab, we are involved in fish farming on 250,000 acres. One fish is sold for $1 and a one-acre farm produces 1,000 kilograms of fish. However, we will get 20,000 kilograms of shrimp from a one-acre farm in a year if we switch the species and grow shrimp instead of fish. It means the production will increase by 20%. The farm gate value of a shrimp is $5,” said Faisal Iftikhar.
He said that shrimps worth $1 billion could be exported only from Punjab in the first year if specie modification was introduced in just 10% of farms. “The previous fiscal saw a decline in the trade of seafood. To identify the reason for the reduction in quantity, we carried out a thorough stock evaluation survey. The survey showed that our high-value protein stocks were being reduced by 80%. This is because local fishing boats have been using illegal nets, capturing 80,000 to 90,000 kilograms of high-protein baby fish,” he added.
Faisal Iftikhar said that Pakistan’s fishing industry would develop in terms of exports. He added that it was a profitable profession that could bring significant foreign cash to a country.
In the first month of the current fiscal, Pakistan’s seafood exports increased by 30.02%, on year-on-year basis, and reached $18.506 million as compared to $14.233 million in the corresponding period of the financial year 2021-22. Quantitatively, Pakistan’s seafood export increased by 18.47% and reached 8,058 metric tonnes in the first month of the current fiscal from 6,802 metric tonnes in the same period of the previous fiscal.
However, seafood exports decreased by 54.43% and reached $18.506 million on month-on-month basis in July 2022 as compared to $40.608 million in June 2022, according to the latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
“Shrimp farming is one of the most profitable businesses, which requires attention for proper planning to increase fisheries-based exports. The Fisheries Development Board and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research should be appreciated for devising a national residue management plan in this regard,” Faisal Iftikhar told WealthPK.
