Chief Secretary Punjab Nagib Ullah Malik has said that fisheries sector has a great potential of growth, which would help reducing unemployment and earning foreign exchange. Addressing the inaugural session of 4th National Symposium on fisheries here on Wednesday, he said that poverty, unemployment and increasing prices of essential commodities are major problems of our country.
Although economic indicators are toward right direction but people dont know where to invest their savings. He said fisheries sector is a dynamic area in this regard, which can really increase growth potential of the province. He said government was introducing modern techniques and trends to attract more and more farmers in this sector. Chief Secretary further said that government would launch awareness campaign and organise workshops in districts as well as in tehsils in this regard.
Speaking on this occasion Secretary Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Major Azam Suleman Khan (Retd) said fisheries was an important sector of the economy, which provide livelihood to thousands and a high quality protein food to the masses. He said this symposium would definitely prove to be a useful forum for the aquaculturists and researchers to identify the problem areas in the fish culture. He admired the role of Pakistan Fisheries Society for the development and conservation of fisheries resources in the country.
Director General Fisheries Punjab Dr Muhammad Ayub said that department is providing free of cost technical facilities to the farmers for setting up fish farms. He said that due to the measures taken by the department, fisheries sector has now assumed the status of an industry in the province and more than eight thousand fish farms have been established on 40 thousand acres of land.