KARACHI: The federal government claims to have achieved a record $568 million in fish exports in FY26, but data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) show exports of less than $500m, creating confusion.
On July 9, Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry had issued a statement claiming Pakistan’s exports of fish and fish preparations reached a record $568m in FY26.
However, the PBS data showed that fish exports stood at $482m (215,170 tonnes) in FY26 versus $465m (216,482 tonnes) in FY25, a marginal drop of 0.61pc in quantity but a meagre rise of 3.6pc in value.
Faisal Iftikhar, former CEO of the Fisheries Development Board and ex-chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association, told Dawn on Thursday that the discrepancy in export data between the two sources arises from their distinct methodologies.
Maritime affairs minister claims $568m, PBS shows $482m
