KARACHI: A plunge in fish and shrimp catch has been observed in the month of October. It is estimated that about 40 percent catch has been reduced in October as compared to corresponding month the last year. This has resulted in seafood export decline by $2.861m in October this year, exporters has said.
Data from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) shows that seafood export stood at $32.449m this October as compared to $35.310m in October last year. By volume, the seafood export has suffered a drop of 2,221 tons to 12,456 tons in October this year as compared to 14,677 tons in the same month last year, as revealed by PBS.
Chairman of Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association (Pakfea) Faisal Iftikhar has blamed overfishing as the cause of reduction of catch saying, “Overfishing round the year and use of banned nets by fishermen plagued the sea and reduced the seafood crop significantly.”
He said that the decline in seafood catch is due to non-stop fishing activity round the year which, he added, gives the sea no break to recover its production capacity. He urged the government has to act to maintain fish and shrimp stocks in its seawaters.
