Fishing is most papular occupation in pakistan near Balochistan or Sindh.At present 35,000 sail boat, row boats ,travelersand gillnatters etc are busy in fishing in mainland and marin areas.
The fish harbours are located at Karachi port, Ibrahim Hydari, Gwadar, Ormara and Pasni in Balochistan. The fish are very nutritive diet for the human beings. They are the vital natural resources of the world. There are more than twenty thousand of fish species, but nearly 8,500-9,000 are currently in use which serve the nutritional, economical and trading phenomena of the human beings. It is an established fact that seas, oceans, rivers, streams, estuaries near-shore sea, estuaries, mangroves, ponds, lakes and man-made reservoirs are the largest factors of organic living matter of the country. These water resources are being utilized for more fish extensively nourishment and cultivation purposes and offer tremendous opportunities for farming of fish organisms. Indian Ocean near southern Pakistan is the main source of fish for the country. In recent years, the marine fish (fish and shrimp) production in Pakistan is nearly 556 x 103 mt. Pakistan has a coastline of 1,120 km, covering Mekran (Balochistan) and the coast of Karachi (Sindh). In its water areas, Pakistan has more than 100 species of fish and nearly 25 of them have a fruitful commercial value. The fish and shrimp are the valuable items of export and foreign exchange and million of rupees were earned in 1998.
The other sources for catching fish are inland resources such as small rivers, dams (Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma), barrages, lakes (Haleji, Keenjhar and Manchhar), reservoirs, ponds and canals covering a substantial water area and in these areas inland fisheries can be stocked with better variety of fish both for sweet water and brackish water. Existing facilities for breeding and supply of fish and dissemination of technical know how for improving fish are being strengthened. It is estimated that nearly hundred thousand of fresh fish are consumed yearly in the country. Pakistan is one of the protein-deficient countries of the world. Our per capita animal meat consumption, including fish is about 8.8 kg. Fish is considered to be the best animal protein for human consumption. In Pakistan the per capita consumption of fish is, however, very low i.e. 1.6 kg. This in comparison with other nations. In European countries it is 20 kg and in Japan it is 64kg.
A properly developed fish industry can increase export to earn huge foreign exchange.It can also provide a source of vitamin rich diet.Different organization have planned to established a research paper covering both marine and fresh water fisheries and allied aqua culture.Pakistan can enjoy surplus fish production but there still exists great disparity of price in different markets, mainly due to the absence of facilities for cold storage and other methods of preservation and transportation.
