Pakistan

Pakistan’s coast extends 1,100 km from India to Iran, with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 240,000 km2. The continental shelf area is about 50,270 km2. In Pakistan, mainly neritic and oceanic species are caught in the tuna fishery. The tuna fishing fleet comprised of about 709 gillnet boats in 2018. The total production of tuna and tuna-like species, including seerfish, in 2018 was 70,569 t. The major share of the catches were tuna (72%), followed by seerfish (17.65%), dolphinfish (5%) and billfish (4.99%). Catches of tuna were dominated by yellowfin tuna (32%), followed by longtail tuna (23%), frigate tuna (21.5%), tuna nei (10%), kawakawa tuna (8%) and skipjack tuna (4.5%). There were some landings of bullet tuna and striped bonito as well.