ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched a digital fisheries traceability system alongside its first Fishing Technology Museum as part of efforts to curb illegal fishing, improve regulatory compliance and strengthen access to international seafood markets, the maritime affairs ministry said this week.
Pakistan’s fisheries sector has long struggled with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, weak monitoring systems and limited traceability, factors that have constrained exports despite the country’s extensive coastline and exclusive economic zone in the Arabian Sea. Compliance with international regulations, particularly those of the European Union and the United States, has increasingly become a prerequisite for market access.
On Monday, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry inaugurated the fishing museum in Karachi and soft-launched the “Mahi Dost” app, a digital catch-to-consumer tracking system designed to help Pakistani seafood exporters meet stringent international certification requirements.
Addressing fishermen, academics and members of the business community, Chaudhry said the two new initiatives together would strengthen monitoring, control and surveillance in the fisheries sector and help curb regional losses from illegal fishing, estimated at around $1 billion. He said they were aligned with Pakistan’s Blue Economy Policy and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14, which focuses on protecting marine ecosystems.
