ZAHID CHUGHTAI
Colombo (Sri Lanka): Fish & Shrimp farming has the potential to earn larger than US $2billions per 12 months equipped, a pro-export protection is enacted, fish farmers are taught to implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and exempting duties and taxes at fully totally different phases of this sector. It could actually help convey down the value of producing for the Inland Aquaculture Farmers who at present are engaged over roughly larger than 250,000 acres of land all through Pakistan. These might fetch handsome worldwide commerce if incentivized by exempting product sales tax on fish & shrimps feed, seed (infants) of fish & shrimps, exempt duties & taxes on each type of import of fish & shrimp for brood shares and gear for manufacturing Aquaculture feed or use in Aquaculture farming. Equally, these farmers should be equipped electrical power at backed prices. Haider Ali Director of an agro-based agency observed this whereas talking to this scribe on the “AquaCon”, an event organized by the US Soya Bean Export Council (USSEC) recently in Colombo to promote funding in technology-based scientific farming in Aquaculture. Aquaculture startups from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka pitched their duties to the merchants on the event. Haider regretted that Inland Aquaculture Farming could not be a magnet for the federal authorities on account of for fish consumption we primarily relied on open water (sea, river and so forth) catching which now a day is reducing commonly. The rationale for a lot much less productiveness in open water as a consequence of the utilization of small mesh-size nets for the ultimate so a number of years which have been harmful to little one fishes and did not enable them to develop lastly resulting in genocide and altering the ocean and river ecosystem too. For the last few years, the Fisheries Development Board (FDB) was engaged on bettering Inland Aquaculture Farming by conducting quite a few enchancment purposes and attempting onerous to show farmers. Nonetheless, nonetheless, the desired outcomes had not been achieved. To comprehend goals and improve per-acre manufacturing FDB along with Provincial Fisheries Division (PFD) wanted to work onerous and change the proper and wise knowledge to farmers in an surroundings pleasant and cost-effective methodology. Though on the Provincial stage, there have been quite a few fish hatcheries nonetheless not a single shrimp hatchery was accessible in Pakistan. To reinforce Inland Aquaculture Farming in Pakistan, the Federal Authorities with the help of all Provincial Governments ought to focus on rising the number of hatcheries with an increase of producing from 500-1000kg to 3000-4000kg per acre by educating fish farmers to increase the exports and meet native demand as correctly. Bangladesh Inland Fish Pond Custom achieved 2,405,415MT from 495,000 hectares (2017-18) whereas Pakistan is not any means near to them. Pakistan’s Inland Fish Pond Custom manufacturing should not be larger than roughly 200,000MT whereas Pakistan can improve aquaculture in extra land area than Bangladesh using these lands which might be saline and by no means acceptable for agricultural capabilities. Presently, Bangladesh has 100 fish processing crops out of which 76 are accredited by the European Price and exporting larger than 60-70% of its entire manufacturing (sea, river and inland custom) to Europe, the USA and Japan whereas Pakistan has just a few processing crops whereby solely three processing crops are accredited from European Price, Haider added. One different grey area of this sector was that all fisheries departments every in Federal and Provincial governments did not have right info on manufacturing which should be streamlined, he regretted. For the ultimate 3-4 years some fish farmers have been attempting to reinforce per acre manufacturing functionality via using fish feed nonetheless sadly, this sector was as soon as extra ignored by the Federal Authorities throughout the supplementary funds of 2022 by abolishing the exemption of product sales tax on fish feed which was exempted sooner than the talked about supplementary funds whereas product sales tax is exempted on poultry and cattle feed. Haider was of the view that above talked about facility not solely enhances the farmers’ functionality to increase per acre manufacturing nonetheless may additionally entice worldwide investments which lastly finish in an increase in GDP and create employment throughout the sector, he concluded.
