Ministry of Maritime Affairs (MoMA), as lead partner and with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, held a day-long provincial stakeholder consultation workshop on initial draft of National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy 2025-2035 on 15th May 2025 at FAO KP Office, Peshawar. MoMA welcomed the participants and highlighted that to harness the actual potential, MoMA has embarked on formulation of a national fisheries and aquaculture policy on urgent basis to provide guidelines for enhancing the sectoral share in national GDP through export-based macro earnings and Pakistan’s presence in international seafood markets and also contributing towards food security in accordance with the vision of Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Mr. Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhary. It was reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to inclusive policymaking by engaging all stakeholders in the process.In opening remarks, CEO FDB Mr. Junaid Wattoo emphasized the importance of national policy to steer governance and development in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
Head of FAO Office in KP Province Ms. Leonor Fernandezmentioned that this activity is a series of FAO’s technical assistance provided to the Government of Pakistan in a number of sectors including agriculture, livestock, irrigation, forest and fisheries sectors for the purpose of uplifting the socio-economic conditions, introducing improved governance through supporting the policy and legal frameworks, capacity building, inclusion, participation and mainstreaming all relevant stakeholders.
In his concluding remarks, Fisheries Development Commissioner Mian Aftab Ali Shah reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to empowering provincial fisheries departments and working with them to build a stronger, better-regulated fisheries sector focused on development. He thanked all attendees for their meaningful contributions to the policy consultation. He added that we are organizing two more similar sessions at Lahore (for Punjab province) and Karachi (for Sindh and Balochistan provinces) on 20th and 22nd May 2025 after which advance level consultation will be held at Islamabad.
Earlier, in his technical presentation on draft policy document, FAO’s Senior Policy Specialist Dr. Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal maintained that policy emphasizes responsible use with adequate governance as the foundation for access to resources, sustainable management and resilient development to capitalize on opportunities, and foster a culture of sustainability by balancing economic, social, and environmental objectives at both national and provincial levels, ultimately contributing to the well-being of both people and the planet.
The officials of Fisheries Departments from AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan presented their official feedback on the initial draft policy, commended the policy measures and suggested a few additions related to financial flow mechanism, review of expenditures and leasing modality for fishing in freshwater reservoirs.
The feedback of the participants on draft policy was gathered and rationalized through an exercise in four groups followed by presentations in a panel discussion mode. The Expert’s Panel was comprisedof Mr. Founder & President Planet PulseMr. Khalid khan, Dr. Zaighum Hasan, and CEO FDB Mr. Junaid Wattoo.Both panelists and participants offered valuable suggestions for advancing fisheries sector initiatives. This workshop has provided a platform to step forward for formal consultation process on consensus-based practical and coherent policy measures in Federal-Provincial context of Pakistan. It was attended by more than 70 participants representing all relevant stakeholders from Islamabad, KP, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJ&K including officials from FAO, MoMA, Fisheries Development Board (FDB), Fisheries Departments of GB and AJK, KP Board of Investment (BOI), SMEDA, academia, civil society and private sector.