Contribution of Fish Production and Trade to the Economy of Pakistan

Pakistani waters are rich in a variety of aquatic organisms. Of those organisms, fish has earned its importance due to its immense export and revenue potential. In fact, exports and imports of a country serve as an indicator of its economic standing. There are two schools of thoughts for boosting a country’s economy. One is export led growth (ELG) and the other import led growth (ILG). The objective of this study was to investigate trend of fish production, export and import of Pakistan during the last two decades. Extensive review of literature was done; numerical data was obtained from FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. Minitab 17 Software was used to make graphs for meaningful data representation. The results show that fish production has increased in Pakistan during the last two decades starting from 22,255 tons in 1991 and reaching up to 82,448 tons in 2010. During this period highest production, 93,820 tons, was observed in 1994. Both the fish commodities, dried, salted or smoked and frozen excluding fillets and meat, also have increased in their production; however the production of latter commodity surpassed during the last five years of our study. Export in terms of quantity and value of the former fish commodity declined while the latter commodity increased during the same period. Import figures have shown that there is an increasing trend in the import of the latter fish commodity reflecting its potential demand in Pakistan. This study has highlighted the contribution of fisheries production and trade to Pakistan’s economy. By paying more attention to fisheries sector, the country’s production and export of fish and fishery products can be increased, and the country’s economy as a whole can be boosted.