Irfan Ahmed ISLAMABAD, May 23 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s seafood exports decreased by 0.73% year-on-year to $349.427 million during the July-April period of 2021-22 from $351.997 million during the same period of fiscal year 2020-21. Pakistan’s seafood trade declined by 16.49% to 131.774 million tonnes in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to 157.792 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. On a year-on-year basis, fish exports decreased by 16.38% to $40.318 million in April 2022 from $48.215 million in April 2021, WealthPK reported. [caption id="attachment_67360" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: PBS website/WealthPk research[/caption] Similarly, seafood exports decreased by 2.27% to $40.318 million month-over-month in April 2022 compared with $41.298 million in March 2022, according to the latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). As per PBS data, the overall meat exports recorded $284.699 million in July-April 2021-22 against $279.290 million in July-April 2020-21, showing a growth of 1.94%. Pakistan’s total meat exports increased by 22.50% month-on-month to $35.597 million in April 2022 compared with $29.058 million in March 2022. On a year-on-year basis, meat exports increased by 10.28%, reaching $35.597 million in April 2022 compared with $32.280 million in April 2021.   Muslim Mohammedi, Chairman of Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association, told WealthPK that fisheries exports were projected to increase in the second half of the current fiscal year. The overall food group exports from the country during last 10 months of the current fiscal increased by 20.29% compared with the same period of last year. During the July-April 2021-22 period, different food commodities, including rice, vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, meat, fish, spices, and others valuing $4.471 billion were exported against the exports of $3.717 billion during the same period last year. It’s worth mentioning here that the country’s total exports increased by 25.46%, reaching $26.228 billion in the last 10 months of the current fiscal year compared to $20.905 billion during the same period of last fiscal. As per a World Bank study, China consumed 65 million tonnes of seafood, of which only 15 million tonnes were fetched from the wild, and the remaining 50 million tonnes were achieved through aquaculture farming. The export of Pakistan’s aquatic products to China still has enormous potential to grow. As the world’s largest importer of aquatic products, China imported $13.8 billion worth of aquatic products in 2021, up about 11% year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data. Fishing in Pakistan accounts for just around 1% of the GDP, but it still plays a crucial role in the economy by providing employment opportunities to a significant number of people. Fishing can be a profitable sector to earn precious foreign exchange for the country if farmers can get good, cheap and easily-available aqua feed. This can be achieved with the help of Chinese investments. Chinese investors can bring in new fish breeds and set up their farms and hatcheries in Pakistan. They can also sell these products to local farmers to help them enhance their production. Chinese investors and experts can largely help Pakistan lay a robust aquaculture infrastructure in specific areas and improve the capacity building of the people associated with the business. The government should also formulate policies with input from the stakeholders. Making investments in fish farming in Pakistan could be a win-win situation for both the Chinese and local investors.