Seafood export continues to dwindle

Pakistan's seafood export continues to dwindle 'due to the federal government's deep sea fishing policy' that widely caused the main trading fisheries to scale down over the past eight months of the current fiscal year.
Talking to Business Recorder on Monday, the fisheries stakeholders termed the deep sea fishing policy that "the last federal government had evolved" but put in place by the incumbent government made the ailing fisheries sector suffer more from the restrictions on the hunt in the country's seas.
The policy is thought to have rather scaled back the country seafood export by over 6 percent or $16.226 million to $247.991 million in July-Feb 2018-19, which stands lower from $264.217 million in July-Feb 2017-18, according to the fishermen. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics says: Pakistan exported less seafood by 2 percent or 1890 metric tons to 111,640 metric tons in July-Feb 2018-19 from 113,530 metric tons in July-Feb 20171-8.
"The deep sea fishing policy was too sudden for the fishermen to get acclimatized to it, which has widely proven counterproductive damaging the country's fisheries export by over 6 percent," President Sindh Trawlers Owners and Fishermen Association (Stofa), Habibullah Khan Niazi told Business Recorder, saying that "the country's fishermen suffered more from the policy over the past four months than anything else." He asked the federal authorities to revisit the policy at once to help the country earn maximum out of the business.
In Feb 2019, Pakistan managed to export $30.737 million of seafood to the world markets, which is lower by over 11 percent or $3.826 million from $34.563 million exported in Feb 2018. In term of quantity, the seafood export slumped by 9 percent or 1506 metric tons to 15,449 metric tons in Feb 2019 from 16,955 metric tons in Feb 2019. "The policy that bans the ordinary fishermen from going beyond 12 nautical miles into deep sea for fishing in fact reduced the catch in the last four months," Habibullah said.
As a result, he said, the country suffered a sudden fall in the seafood export, while the fishermen and fisheries stakeholders went into a dormant phase with no businesses at hand. "Fishermen actually suffered big unemployment over the ban period, which now on the court order has been suspended till a policy is reframed in consultations with the stakeholders," the Stofa President said, adding that a meeting between the parliamentary committee and fisheries stakeholders is going to take place on Mar 22, 2019 to end the impasse emerged from the policy.
Export to China suffered more that was a main revenue chunk from the country's exchequer, as the entire squid family fisheries are found beyond the red-marked belt of 12 nautical miles, where unlicensed fisheries is banned by the policy. Now, fishing in the deep sea belt has begun with help of the court, hoping catch of the key export fisheries will grow from the past, he said, adding that "the government should also placed a permanent ban on shrimp hunts in creeks" to help improve the country's fisheries export as well. Creeks are considered the main hatcheries for reproduction of shrimp, he said.