A fisheries sector expert, Omar Hayat has urged provincial and federal governments to extend support to catch-and-pay recreational fishing in private facilities to promote ecotourism and contribute positively to conservation and local and regional economic development.

Talking to this scribe, he said that trout fishing is available in Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but it has not been tapped as an economic activity on commercial basis. Attracting local and foreign tourists for trout angling will be a lucrative business for the tour operators and the local economies.

He said that recreational fishing can become important component of the tourism industry and important component of regional economies of Pakistan. When angling tourists reach fresh water ecosystems, there is a risk of degrading the very fishery and landscapes that attracted them, thwarting long term economic development prospects and reducing biodiversity. However with best management practices and awareness to the angling tourists this aspect of reduction of biodiversity can be mitigated.

The trout fishing activities has huge potential to become a source of foreign exchange earning along with employment and income for the local people of the respective area.