Tilapia farming in Pakistan. (Photo: USDA)

Aquaculture handbook to help develop the sector

PAKISTAN
Thursday, January 29, 2015, 03:50 (GMT + 9)

Pakistani scientists together with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and American Soybean Association launched a handbook aimed at improving aquaculture practices in the Asian country.

The "Aquaculture Handbook - Fish Farming and Nutrition in Pakistan" is part of a USDA's general project 'Feeding Pakistan', which seeks to increase farmed-fish yields and incomes, and to improve fish feeding and management with the active participation of public and private players.

In the launching ceremony, held at a hotel in Karachi, the opportunity the production of tilapia, an exotic fish native to Africa and the Middle East, brings to Pakistan was highlighted, as the country has the potential to widely increase its production. This could help meet the growing demand for protein of its population and boost its fish exports.

Currently, Pakistan has a very limited fishery production, amounting to 650,000 tonnes per year. Of this total, 465,000 tonnes come from marine fisheries and 185,000 come from freshwater capture and aquaculture.

US and Pakistani experts have also helped a local feed manufacturer establish production of high-quality fish feed using soybean-derived ingredients. This feed is rich in proteins and nutrients that support healthy and efficient fish growth, while producing less waste.

Reportedly, the food based on soybeans increases the yield per acre (0.4 hectare) to six tonnes from an initial yield a tonne at the beginning of the project, The News informed.

Jam Khan Shoro, Sindh Minister for Livestock and Fisheries expressed his hope that the fisheries sector would account for five percent of GDP as against the current one percent.

Pakistan export earnings from the fisheries sector grew an average 12 per cent/year to USD 367 million in FY14, from USD 213 million in 2008.

According to World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH)’s factsheet, the project helped around 2,000 fish farmers making them increase the market value of tilapia from zero in 2012 to an estimated PKR 450 million (USD 4.5 million) in 2014.

US agri-scientist Dr Kevin Fitzsimmons summarized, “There is a huge potential to grow fisheries in Pakistan.”
 

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