ISLAMABAD: The federal government has been urged to remove duties on import of fish feed to boost the sector in the country.
The members of National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) met under the chairmanship of Member National Assembly Muhammad Shakir Bashir Awan to discuss the issues and challenges faced by the fisheries sector.
The Committee also recommended for establishing training institutions in every districts to promote aquaculture and alleviate the poverty from the rural areas of the country.
It also suggested to introduce innovative ways of fish farming in spite of conventional farming in order to reduce input cost as well as enhancing farm productivity and profit maximization.
Member of the Committee, Captain (R) Muhammad Safdar suggested for establishing a company for the promotion and development of fisheries sector and introducing the short courses for youth in order to create them profitable job opportunities in the profit oriented business.
He also called for harvesting the fisheries potential existing in the Northern Areas of the country by providing small loans upto Rs500,000 to Rs00,000 for establishing fish farms. He also asked for organizing workshops across the four provinces and establishing model fisheries farms and allocating the amount in next PSDP.
Chief Executive Officer Fisheries Development Board informed the Committee that about 1,300 youth were provided training and established trout cage farms in Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
