Pakistan Secures First Tuna Quota, Targets Sustainable Harvests and $200 Million Exports
Pakistan won its first 25,000-ton tuna quota, and the government says the new access could drive $200 million in exports while it reins in overfishing.
Pakistan turned World Tuna Day into a declaration of intent, saying it has secured its first-ever 25,000 metric ton tuna quota from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, split between 15,000 tons of yellowfin and 10,000 tons of skipjack. Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said the allocation could bring in about $200 million in export revenue, putting fisheries policy squarely at the center of trade, foreign exchange and industrial planning.
The promise is big enough to matter, but so is the pressure it creates. Chaudhry said annual catches already exceed 45,000 tonnes, and a large share of that output has stayed outside the regulated system because of unregulated practices. In other words, Pakistan is not starting from a small fishery, it is trying to drag a long-running tuna economy into formal channels, where better reporting could improve sustainability, but a rapid export push could also intensify fishing effort across the Indian Ocean if enforcement lags. That is the real access-and-pressure test now in front of the sector.
The government is also tying the quota to a broader policy reset. Officials said the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy is meant to streamline regulations, raise revenues and meet climate and conservation commitments, while aligning Pakistan with international conservation standards. At the same time, a senior official from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs has been elected chair of the IOTC Standing Committee on Administration and Finance, giving Pakistan a louder voice in the administrative machinery that helps shape regional tuna management.
For the tuna fleet, the numbers will decide whether this is a genuine pivot or just growth-first rhetoric wrapped in sustainability language. A 25,000-ton quota against catches already above 45,000 tonnes only works if landings are monitored, unreported fishing is squeezed out and the formal market can absorb more fish without pushing yellowfin and skipjack harder than the stock can bear. If Pakistan gets that balance right, the country could boost exports, strengthen compliance and claim a more serious place in Indian Ocean tuna politics. If it does not, the quota will read less like conservation reform and more like a license to sell the same pressure under a cleaner flag.
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