The project is about establishing an Inland Fish Farm in the potential areas of Pakistan which provide desired suitable environment. The project would serve as facility to utilize the everyday resources in the form of feed for inland fish farm that usually ends up as cultural waste. On the other hand it would generate employment for the local inhabitants and more over would possibly cause cash inflow as well. Currently the project is being designed / proposed for the high temperature areas/cities such as Sibi and Jacobabad, however the same can be proposed for the areas which can fulfill input and logistic requirements of the project. The proposed project is primarily focused on the local customers and national markets due to the prevailing high demand and taste preferences. The main feature of the project would include naturally grown fisheries in clean environment keeping in view the quality standards and principles. This prefeasibility study explores the viability of setting up inland fish farm based on economic and technology trends and available local strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Pakistan has a total coast line of 1050 km and has a fishing area of approximately 300270 sq. kms. Pakistan’s coast line is termed as highly rich in marine life with a vast variety of species having commercial importance. Fishing is the most common profession of the people particularly those living along the coastal belts of the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Fishermen use various apparatus for the catch of these valuable species, among these apparatus the most important are boat/vessel and fish catching nets. Despite of such astonishing potential still the coastal belt of Pakistan lack the facility of proper net manufacturing unit. The proposed project is about establishing of Net manufacturing unit that can fulfill the local requirement.

The project is about a Processing Plant which will process / freeze sea food (Fish and shrimps etc.) The final product will be supplied to the food markets of major cities of Pakistan that include Lahore, Sialkot, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta. Export quality products will be shipped to the international sea food markets of European Union, Japan, USA, and Russia. Beside this, restaurant chains and 5 star hotels across the country are also one of main consumers of the sea food. The processing plant would be used to process the sea food catch mainly coming from the Arabian Sea through fishing boats, launches and international fishing trawlers. As a source of white meat, consumption trend and level of fish is very low as compared with chicken. The prime reason for this low consumption is the scarce supply, low quality and less availability of fish in the meat markets of major cities in Pakistan. Effective supply chain of fishery products in domestic markets can increase the demand of fish in local markets. The process would include undertaking value-added activities, which will increase the quality and shelf-life of sea food for the national and international market. The plant should be located at the coastal area of Pakistan ideally near a fish harbor. Pakistani sea food products have significant demand in the international market, however, the export of sea food products is far less as compare to the available potential. It has been observed that in order to increase the international export markets size, good quality sea food production will require adequate physical infrastructure facilities like modern processing units, cool chain, and other supply related logistics. Attaining international quality standards and getting quality certificates is a mandatory requirement in Sea food processing industry.

Shrimp farming, the production of marine shrimp in impoundments, ponds and tanks, got rolling in the early 1970s, and, today, over fifty countries export farmed shrimp. In Ecuador, the leading producer in the Western Hemisphere, export revenue range from $500 to $800 million a year; in Thailand, the leader in the Eastern Hemisphere, they have passed the billion-dollar mark. In addition, India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka all produce huge amounts of farmed shrimp. The Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma) have shrimp farms, and there are shrimp farms throughout Central and South America. Honduras, Panama and Mexico have big industries, while smaller industries exist in Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Peru, Belize and Brazil. The shrimp importing nations, the United States, Western Europe and Japan-specialize in high-tech “intensive” shrimp farming, but, thus far, their production has been insignificant. Shrimp export has a major share of the total seafood export of Pakistan. It is almost 60% of the total fisheries export of the country. The annual catch of the captured shrimp has been constant and we have reached the sustainable limit of shrimping. In order to increase the shrimp exports we have to go into shrimp farming. Farmed/cultured shrimp in Pakistan is non-existent in Pakistan. Our neighbours, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Iran are active in this area. Farmed shrimp has a major constitution in the seafood exports of these countries. Farmed shrimp contributes more then US $ 1,100 million in the exports of Thailand.