Pakistan’s seafood exports climb to $465m despite market challenges

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s seafood exports rose to $465 million in FY25, marking a 13.4 per cent increase in value and an 8 per cent rise in quantity compared to the previous year, official figures show.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country exported 216,350 tonnes of fishery products during the fiscal year, up from 199,738 tonnes worth $410 million in FY24.

Industry officials credited the growth to the efforts of local fishermen and seafood processors, who managed to boost exports despite global trade hurdles and a slowdown in demand across key Asian markets.

Saeed Fareed, senior vice-chairman of the Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association (PFEA), said global demand remained subdued, especially in China and other countries in Southeast and Far East Asia, mainly due to ongoing trade restrictions still lingering from the Trump-era tariff regime.

He added that Pakistan continues to face limited access to high-value markets, such as the European Union, while a ban by the United States on shrimp imports has further restricted potential growth.

“The shortage of raw material has become so serious that most seafood processing plants are operating at only 20 to 25 per cent of their capacity,” he said, pointing out that shrimp catches, once Pakistan’s leading seafood export, have seen a sharp decline over the past two decades.

Pakistan’s seafood exports now depend largely on other marine species, including cuttlefish, squid, and octopus.

Fareed also cited assessments from the Marine Fisheries Department and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), warning that Pakistan’s fish stocks are rapidly deteriorating. He called for urgent government intervention to conserve marine resources and push for renewed market access through formal engagement with the European Commission, Saudi Arabia, and the US.

Exporters say they have long aimed to cross the $500 million milestone, but structural issues, outdated fishing practices, and regulatory hurdles continue to hold them back.

In a bid to modernise the sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had last year ordered a complete overhaul of Pakistan’s maritime and fisheries industry.

Proposed reforms included cluster-based shrimp farming in Sindh and Balochistan, joint ventures with Iran, setting up hatcheries, banning the use of juvenile fish in fishmeal, and minimising post-harvest losses through onboard freezing systems.

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