ISLAMABAD: The country’s seafood export nosedived over 15 percent to $33.412 million in April 2015, as exporters and fishermen blame excessive hunting of fish and shrimp throughout the year. In terms of value, the struggling seafood export decline stood at $5.944 million in April 2015 as compared to the export of $39.356 million in April 2014, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Relaxation of fishing in June by the PPP government, allowing the fishermen to exploit the sea for 11 months caused a serious impact to the marine ecosystem and reduced the varies of vertebrate and invertebrate species, exporters said. In terms of volume, seafood export dipped to 14,338 tons in April 2015 from 16,232 tons in April 2015, down by 1,894 tons or 12 percent. Exporters linked seafood export decline in quantity to the bulk landing of inedible marine species mainly trash and juvenile fisheries that are unchecked officially.
In July-April 2014-15, seafood export slid by $7.105 million or over two percent to $286.979 million from $294.084 million in July-April 2013-14. The seafood export volume also plunged by over three percent or 4,162 tons to 115,037 tons in July-April 2014-15 from 119,199 tons in July-April 2013-14.
Exporters are desperately asking the government to regulate the unruly fisheries sector to augment the export of aquatic marine species to the world market. They warned that the continuing over-fishing would result in desolation of the sea from key varieties of fish and shrimp.
They said the government should also implement ban on the illegal fishing nets to relieve the sea from fish juvenile hunting. They feared that the current fiscal year seafood export would not cross the last year total export and blamed the pathetic attitude of the provincial government for the inevitable decline.
