I want to draw the attention of the concerned government institutions to the plight of our fishery sector. It is disturbing to note that our fishery sector is going down day by day. Fish is our big source to increase our export earnings. But our government is not paying any attention toward this sector as much as it requires.
There is a need to develop our fishing sector on modern lines. As we all know that fishing is one of the oldest occupation for the people of Pakistan, and today approximately one million people are engaged with this sector. But this number is now diminishing because of the lack of attention.
The people related to this sector are facing many problems. The biggest problem that they are facing is the problem of storage because the catch of fish is very high but the fishermen do not have the space to store the fish.
The boats that are used are small with little equipment on board. Other than the above mentioned problem there are technical, operational and regulatory problems.
There is a room for improvement in this sector. The government should take a step forward in order to develop this sector. It should invest capital because this sector will give us back more than our investment.
A developed fishing sector will also play an important in provision of employment and growth opportunities to many small and middle size communities. With proper incentives the fishery sector will lead to a greater role in the national economy.
AISHA ALAVI
Lahore
