ISLAMABAD,:
Out of Pakistan’s total fishery exports, 60 per cent are destined for China, Gwadar Pro reported on Monday.
The report says, that in the processing plant of a seafood company at the fish harbour of Karachi, workers are busying grading, cleaning, and packaging fresh shrimps. Twenty days later, they will make their appearance in some Chinese aquatic market.
From ribbon fish, croakers, cuttle fish, to shrimps, crabs, and lobsters, Chinese’ appetite for aquatic products has been growing with a considerable momentum since 2013.
“Fishery is a big and emerging industry in Pakistan”, said Dr. Saeed Murtaza Hasan Andravi, Director Animal Sciences Institute NARC, Islamabad. It accounts for less than one percent of GDP, but provides vast employment opportunities for the under-developed in Pakistan.
Moreover, it can be a profitable profession and a promising means to earn foreign exchange.
Since aquatic products enjoyed tariff concession under the second phase of China Pakistan Free trade Agreement (CPFTA) implemented in Dec 2019, Pakistan’s fishery sector witnessed a boom in terms of export.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan’s exports of frozen seafood were increased by 83.70% to $73.947m in the first seven months of 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Statistics from Chinese customs show that in the first half this year, Pakistan’s fish meal exports to China topped 20,000 tons with a value of over USD 20 million.
But still, more is expected out of these abundant aquatic resources, especially amid the pandemic. “In our seafood industry, we have 450 million dollar export at the time, but we can increase it to 1 billion dollar”, envisaged Muhammad Zafar Kundi, Chairman of Pakistan Fisheries Export Association.
“The requirements for fishing in Pakistan have not yet been met as in other countries because people are using traditional methods and they are living a hand to mouth life”, observed Irfan Ahmad, Incharge of Karachi Fisherman Cooperative Society.
Most of Pakistani aquatic exports are captured fishes. Unlike processed products, they faced a lot of uncertainties.
