Preparations for starting a pilot project for shrimp farming in Punjab have been accelerated, including a plan to build a farm on 4,000 acres of land. According to officials, shrimp farms can be built on an area of nine million acres in the province.
They told The Express Tribune that the federal government had to provide financial support to Punjab and Sindh for the Shrimp Farming Cluster Development Project (2019-24). However, only a small part of the allocated funds has been released by the federal government to Punjab Fisheries Department.
As per sources, Caretaker Punjab Minister Bilal Afzal was informed during a briefing at the Fisheries Training and Research Institute in Manawan by officials of the department that that the funds released by the government for the project in the past had been spent.
Official documents show that Rs101 million had been allocated for the PC-I of the project for the financial year 2019-20, but only Rs14.268 million had been released. The allocated amount rose to Rs661.653 million the following year, of which Rs56.896 was released. Followed by Rs143 million of the allocated Rs765.526 million in 2021-22 and Rs145.61 of Rs811 million in 2022-23.
The government has earmarked Rs307 million for the project in the budget for the ongoing financial year, but the funds have not been released yet. Under the cluster development project, Rs471.87 million has been allocated for shrimp hatcheries in the coastal areas and the amount has to be paid by the federal government, Rs239 million for training and capacity building, Rs377 million for setting up model shrimp farms and Rs1.5 billion for private farms.
Punjab Fisheries Director General Dr Sikandar Hayat, Aquaculture Director Dr Muhammad Abid, Training and Research Director Dr Zahid Sharif, Project Director Malik Ramzan, Hatcheries Director Saima Sadiq and stakeholders of the fish farming sector participated in the briefing. The caretaker minister said there was a plan to build a shrimp farm on 4,000 acres in Punjab and the province had the capacity of nine million acres for the purpose.
He said the government wanted to involve the private sector in shrimp production and would offer incentives for the establishment of farms. An effective policy is being formulated for the implementation of the project and the loopholes in the relevant laws and rules are being rectified.