ABSTRACT
The geographic position of Pakistan makes it rich with diverse climatic conditions. Nature has endowed Pakistan with marine, brackish, and freshwater resources which could be utilized for economically efficient and environmentally sustainable aquaculture. In the early seventies, inland fisheries were gradually transformed from extensive to semiintensive by the development of fish farms and adopting techniques of artificial spawning for restocking natural and commercial fish production systems. Currently, the fisheries sector is contributing almost 1% to the national GDP with 57% fish production from marine sources and rest of the production based on inland fisheries and aquaculture systems. The inland fisheries are a provincial subject in Pakistan. The inland fishery, based on rivers, reservoirs, and irrigation canals is generally of subsistence nature and involves some 180,000 people. Of total inland fish production, 80% comes from reservoirs and rivers. Inland fish catch has declined over the years due to environmental degradation and anthropogenic interventions. During the last decade, the fish-farming sector has gained great momentum. Since 2000, pond fish production has rapidly increased from about 35,000 tonnes in the year 2001 to reach over 146,000 tonnes during 2015. The commercial production of cold-water fish is being practiced on a limited scale in Khyberpakhtunkha and the Northern Areas. The development of both warm water and cold-water aquacultures owes to the establishment of new hatcheries and nurseries in the country. Despite huge potential for development, the aquaculture sector is still in its infancy in Pakistan. The major constraints faced by the aquaculture sector include environmental degradation, lack of research, inadequate supply of quality seed of culturable fish species, availability of formulated feed, postharvest and processing technologies, and marketing. At present the per capita consumption of fish in Pakistan is about 2.4 kg, s much lower than the average consumption of almost 19 kg in the world. To meet the protein requirement of the ever-increasing population in Pakistan, it is important to design a comprehensive national fisheries policy. Capacity building of the concerned departments is direly needed to achieve the goal of sustainable aquaculture and fisheries. Integration of fish farming with poultry/dairy/agri-farming, development of fish feed industry, production of quality fish seed, exploitation of large water bodies through cage fish culture and postharvest processing are the key areas for prospective development of fisheries in Pakistan.
