Talk:Bin Qasim Town
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Fisheries sector in Pakistan
In 2001, total world production of fisheries was reported to be 130.2 million tons, of which 37.9 million tons was from aquaculture practices and 92.3 million tons from capture fisheries production. China was the leading producer with 42.6 million tons (comprising of 16.5 million tons of capture fisheries and 26.1 million tons of aquaculture production). Hence, China’s share in total world fish production is 33% and in aquaculture production it is 69%.
In parallel with the increase in production, international trade has continued to grow, and at an accelerating rate in recent years. (Source: FAO)
About 38% of world fish production is traded internationally. In 2001, total exports of fish and fishery products were US$ 55.9 billions in value terms.
Developing countries, as a whole, supplied slightly more than 50%. Shrimp is the main fish commodity traded in value terms, accounting for about 19% of the total value of internationally traded fishery products. (Source: FAO)
In 2001, more than 80% of the total world import value was concentrated in developed countries, in particular in Japan, the USA and in several EU countries. Japan was the major importer accounting for about 23% of total import value. USA was the second main importer with a share of 17%, followed by Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the UK. (Source: FAO)
About 74 percent of world fish production is used for direct human consumption, whereas the remainder (about 26 percent) is utilized for various non-food products, mostly for conversion to fishmeal and oil.
As a highly perishable commodity, fish has a significant requirement for processing. More than 60 percent of total world fisheries production underwent some form of processing. The most important of the fish products destined for direct human consumption was fresh fish (a share of 53.7 percent), followed by frozen fish (25.7 percent), canned fish (11.0 percent) and cured fish (9.6 percent).
With these overall volumes and trade figures in mind, let us look at Pakistan. We have a total coastline of 1,090 km and a total fishing area of approximately 300,000 sq. kms. Pakistan’s fishing waters are termed as highly rich in marine life with a vast variety of species having commercial value. However, this potential is not reflected in the export earning from fisheries sector. The exports of “Fish and Fish Preparation” were at $134.5 million (with a volume of 93,214 tons) in 2002-03. (Source: EPB)
This situation was mainly attributed to unorganized nature of private sector, lack of focus in Government policies and little institutional investment (in public and private sector projects) in this sector.
Pakistan’s exports of fishery products stand at about 0.25% of world exports. A rough estimate based on maximum sustainable yield figures, existing value addition, and foreign benchmarks, puts our total export potential from this sector at around US$ 1.0 billion from existing natural resources. If we include the high potential area of aquaculture, our fisheries sector can yield even higher export earnings.
Pakistan’s domestic consumption is termed as one of the lowest in the world, at 1.6 kg per person per year (compared to world average of 16.2 kg per person per year). Hence, most of the produce is exported. There is a great dependence on a few species for exports, with very little value addition. Most of the fish catch is from marine sources, which comprises about 70% of total fish exports. Pakistan exports fish mainly to Europe, US, Japan and Middle-Eastern countries.
On the coast of Pakistan, there are more than 30 species of shrimps, 10 species of crabs, 5 species of lobster and about 70 commercial species of fish including sardine, Hilsa, shark, Mackerel, Butterfish, Pomfret, Sole, Tuna, sea bream, Jew fish and Cat Fish, Shark, and Eel. Marine fishing is undertaken from right beyond the coast to 200 nautical miles into the sea. The distance has been divided into two broad categories for fishing known as: (1) Coastal water fishing, and (2) Deep-sea fishing. Deep Sea is further divided in two zones. The distances specified are: up to 12 nautical miles termed as coastal water fishing, 12 to 35 nautical miles is Zone I and 35 to 200 nautical miles is Zone II. Coastal water fishing is done in the villages along the coast that are predominately inhabited by fisherman whose main livelihood is fishing.
Major share of marine catch is within 12 nautical miles from the coast, as most of the boats are small with little catching and preserving equipment on board. This reduces the catch per boat and therefore increases the cost of fish per kg. Zone I (12 to 35 nautical miles) although reserved for local fisherman remains under-utilized for paucity of modern boats equipped with necessary gadgets for catch and preservation. The area between 35 to 200 nautical miles declared as Zone II is reserved for foreign as well as Pakistani vessels, which operate under license from the Government of Pakistan. The catch in zone II is very nominal and therefore it remains to be exploited. Foreign vessels have been found to operate in Zone II without license from the Government and even enter into Zone I in with collaboration with local firms.
The fisheries sector in Pakistan offers direct employment to over one million people, most of which work as fishermen. There are a large number of fishermen’s villages all along Pakistan’s coast line where fishing is primary source of earnings for centuries. The stagnant fisheries sector directly affects standards of living of this community. In addition, these large socioeconomic groups face economic survival problems due to marine resource mismanagement, decreased landing figures and problems faced by seafood processors (who buy their produce) in export marketing because of poor quality product. Given the changing eating habits and depleting natural resources, world seafood market is termed as mainly “sellers market”. The focus in fishing is shifting from already exploited regions to under-exploited areas because of conservation and environment pressures. Despite such favorable circumstances, Pakistan’s seafood exports have actually decreased during the past decade, with 1992 showing highest figures, i.e., US$ 181 million.
The main problems faced by Pakistan’s fishing industry are technical, operational and regulatory in nature. During1999-2002, SMEDA worked for the uplift of the fishing industry through a number of measures. First it carried out a sector study identifying the key issues being faced by the industry. Then SMEDA worked closely with Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) and Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (FCS) in the cleanup and improving hygienic conditions of the Fish Harbour, encouraging the fishermen to use modern on-boat storage and handling techniques, boat modification, training of fishermen, etc. By adopting modern techniques of fishing and fish processing, Pakistan can exploit the huge opportunity that exists in the fisheries sector. (The writer is Director, Special Projects Division, SMEDA.). PAKISTAN: Special report on sustainability in the fishing industry
KARACHI, 3 Oct 2002 (IRIN) - Life has never been easy for Haji Ali, a 70-year-old fishermen, but it was never as tough as it is these days. His community's staple food and source of income is becoming scarce.
"It is more then 15 days that we have not gone out to sea," Ali told IRIN from squalid Baba Island near the southern port city of Karachi. "There are no fish". Almost all residents of the 10,000-strong fishing village have the same complaint.
Dotted along the Arabian Sea, fishing communities living along Pakistan's 1,120-km coast have traditionally depended on the sea. Although fishing was never hardly lucrative, every expedition brought in a catch on which a household could survive. But a year ago the cash-strapped government granted deep-sea fishing rights in Pakistani waters to Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean factory trawlers. Their huge nets scoop up thousands of mt of both wanted and unwanted fish every voyage. Sometimes waste amounts to 90 percent of their catch. "The foreign trawler comes and takes all the fish," Ali asserted, amid several nodding heads, all eager to make the same point.
Muhammad Ayyub, another small-boat owner, returned to the shore with no catch after spending two days at sea. "Nothing", he shouted back when local residents inquired as he approached the oil-blackened water at the jetty. "Nothing at all," he added, and the faces of a dozen or so fishermen fell.
"A complete ban on deep-sea fishing by trawlers is needed. This is affecting the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people," Muhammad Ali Shah, the director of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, an NGO working for the community's welfare and rights, told IRIN in Karachi.
The government first banned deep-sea fishing trawlers in 1980, but has subsequently periodically lifted the ban. Shah attributed this year's lifting of the fishing ban to vested interests on the part of the country's bureaucracy. The government has pledged to maintain "strict vigilance and a tough punitive regime" to safeguard the interests of small fishermen and check incidents of poaching.
According to statistics from the Karachi harbour office - the official base for local fishermen - in September the catch was 25 percent down on the same period last year. Anecdotal evidence suggests the catch is down by up to seventy percent. The daily average catch is 350 mt, with 50 to 60 boats sailing out every day from the Karachi coastal strip alone. "The indicators are not very encouraging at all," Syed Tayyab Naqvi, the head of Karachi Fisheries Harbour Authority, told IRIN.
According to an international study posted at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation website, annual discards in commercial fisheries are estimated as averaging 27 million mt, ranging overall between 17.9 mt and 39.5 million mt.
Shah said commercial trawlers only kept the commercially viable species and threw away the rest, thereby not only polluting the sea but also denying catches to the smaller, local fishermen. "They cause wastage and damage marine life, besides destroying the ecology," he noted.
A government official told IRIN that the government had lifted the ban this year on an experimental basis. "We wanted to see how much revenue the foreign trawlers will give to the government," the official, who declined to be named, said.
Pakistan's average annual fish exports stand at US $150 million. In 1998/99, when deep-sea fishing was allowed for that year, the government earned only $8.2 million from them. However, sources in the fisheries department said the government should have earned close to $128 million. No explanation as to why that did not happen was given.
Fisheries officials say the destitution of the fishing community - estimated to number between 250,000 and about 10 million - cannot be solely attributed to the commercial exploitation of marine fish.
"There are many factors that are affecting the fishing community, reducing their income and making their lives miserable," Shah noted. "The entire country's waste is being thrown in the sea, which has polluted the coastal waters," he noted. The pristine blue and coral-green sea near Karachi has turned into a dark, oily, filth-littered mess. "This has damaged the ecology and the fish stock," he said.
Documents published by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) confirm that 70 percent of the world's marine fish stocks have now been depleted, and that this situation poses serious nutritional problems for millions of people.
Rafiq Pariar, a teacher at Baba Island and an activist fighting for fishermen's rights, told IRIN that fishing communities were in deep distress because of financial woes and the absence of any government support. The cost of a day-long expedition on a small fishing boat was $50, which almost equalled the value of a full catch at harbour. "This makes fishing unsustainable," he said. Naqvi said that according to government estimates a fishing household's monthly income was $50, which was far too little to survive. Traditionally fishing families are large.
"Most of the fishermen are extremely poor and live in squalid conditions. Only a minority are rich," Naqvi added, explaining that the community needed health and education for their children to break the vicious cycle of poverty. However, according to Pariar, no government has ever seriously addressed the needs of the coastal people.
Greenstar Marketing, a non-profit-making organisation in association with the Fishermen's Cooperative Society, launched a unique programme this year to try to bring down the high population growth in the community. Erum Sattar, the national information manager at Greenstar Marketing, told IRIN that a radio programme dedicated to the coastal fishing communities had been launched this year to address the problem of family planning.
As the areas inhabited by the scattered community are extremely remote and hard to reach by means of conventional transport, the radio programme was seen as a useful tool for reaching the fishermen, whether on land or at sea, he said. Once a week, the radio show, presented by a medical doctor, highlighted various health and hygiene issues, and focused on matters related to childbirth and contraception, Sattar added.
Naqvi said his organisation was trying to encourage fishermen to modify their boats and improve the standard of fish storage. He said the task was complicated by the fact that the community, having practised fishing for generations, tended to resist change.
He has introduced plastic bags to replace wicker baskets - much to the annoyance of the wicker- basket-makers - and has told the fishermen to improve the standard of cold storage facilities in their boats to ensure that their catches are still fresh on landing. "We are just endeavouring to enhance fishermen's awareness," Naqvi concluded. --210.56.14.139 14:10, 25 April 2006 (UTC) --210.56.14.139 14:10, 25 April 2006 (UTC)== [[By Farhan Arif 10th Cambridge Edwards College School Peshawar]] ==
