Fish farmers of Punjab have started marketing of their produce in the cities and towns as the weather has become moderate in the plains of the province. People usually do not eat fish in the hot months of May, June, July and August. President Lahore Fish Market Sardar Azhar Hussain told this scribe that the farmers were bringing fish in the market in small quantities but as the weather becomes cooler next month, the arrival of fish from the farms would pick up.
He said since there was still enough water in the rivers, dams, and lakes, the fish produced in the fresh water of rivers would be brought for sale in November. He said the sea fish from Karachi is not coming in large quantities due to crisis in Pakistan Railways, which has terminated several passenger and goods trains.
It may be added that there were more than 16,000 private fish farms across the country. In Punjab, farms were located mostly in irrigated areas or where there was abundant rain and the soil was alluvial. There are a number of private fish farms in Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Attock districts.
However experts say that the freshwater capture fisheries are dominated by the Indus River and its tributaries. The fish fauna of the Indus system in its northern part is cold-water type, while the greater middle and southern parts of the system are warm-water zones.
Fisheries in rivers and reservoirs like Tarbela, Mangla, Chashma, Shahpur dam and barrages on river account for more than 80 percent of total inland fish production. The riverine fishery management system is operated mainly by provincial fisheries departments. They enforce regulatory laws that restrict catch by size of fish and establish closed seasons. The fisheries production is currently managed by WAPDA through harvest limits during certain seasons and minimum size of fish landed.
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