Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said on Monday that Pakistan’s fish and seafood exports rose 74.4 per cent in value in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, reaching $125.4 million against $71.9 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The increase in export earnings underscores the marine fisheries sector’s growing economic potential as Pakistan seeks to expand its blue economy, he said in a statement.
Junaid Chaudhry noted that export volume also rose by 74.8pc over the three-year period, increasing from 35,294 metric tonnes (MT) in the first quarter of 2023-24 to 61,679MT in the same quarter of 2025-26.
He said fish exports stood at $93.28m during the first quarter of 2024-25, before rising to $125.4m in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the minister said, adding in terms of volume, exports increased from 35,294MT in Q1 2023-24 to 43,995MT in Q1 2024-25 and reached 61,679MT in Q1 2025-26.
The minister noted that both the value and volume of fish exports had grown substantially over the past three years, with export earnings broadly keeping pace with the increase in volume.
He said the fisheries sector was an important component of Pakistan’s coastal economy, providing livelihoods to fishing communities while generating foreign exchange through exports of fish and other marine products.
Junaid Chaudhry praised the Marine Fisheries Department’s performance, particularly its record export earnings of $568 million during FY2025-26. He said the opening of new international markets, particularly Russia, for Pakistani fisheries products was another significant achievement.
He said recent initiatives to resume shrimp exports to the United States, along with the revival of the fishing licensing regime in Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), would help promote the sustainable utilisation of the country’s marine fisheries resources.
The minister stressed the need to address institutional, technical and capacity-related bottlenecks to enhance fish and seafood exports to lucrative international seafood markets, particularly the European Union.
He also called for reviving and restoring the Fisheries Training Centre (FTC) of the Marine Fisheries Department to strengthen human-resource capacity, improve technical and professional standards, and enhance compliance with international fisheries and seafood safety requirements.
Junaid Chaudhry said strengthening the capacity of fishermen, skippers, fisheries professionals and other stakeholders across the fisheries supply chain would help improve the quality, safety and traceability of Pakistani seafood and enhance its competitiveness in international markets.
He reiterated his commitment to modernising the fisheries sector, promoting the sustainable utilisation of marine resources, expanding international market access and increasing the sector’s contribution to the national economy.