A preliminary study on the shrimp fishery in Pakistan

559-566Shrimp fishery is an important fisheries resource in Pakistan. This fisheries resource has played a vital role in revenue generation through its export. The capture production of shrimps was just 2900 t in 1950. This quantity has increased manifolds and according to the reported data in 2015 about 18981 t of various types of shrimps were captured in Pakistan. Unfortunately, recent statistics indicate that capture production of this fisheries resource is decreasing because of overexploitation. In contrast to capture production, aquaculture production of shrimps is getting pace, from 1988 (40 t) to 2015 (119 t) it has increased considerably, but the growth rate is very low. Export quantity of shrimp fisheries from Pakistan is increasing and has reached at 21155 t (75519000 USD) in 2015. However, the market composition is changed now. China is the biggest emerging export market for shrimp fisheries export from Pakistan. About 75 % of shrimp products are sent to China. The export potential of this fisheries resource is immense and can be increased further by augmenting production and implementing trade promoting policies