Potential Development Contribution of Fisheries Reform: Evidence From Pakistan

Mismanagement threatens the productivity and sustainability of an increasing number of capture fisheries globally, hindering these resources’ ability to contribute to socioeconomic and environmental outcomes such as those embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals. Using Pakistan as a case study, we assess the contribution that improved management of Pakistan’s marine fisheries can make to development through economic growth, productivity, employment, and resource sustainability. Using a bioeconomic model based on a recent stock assessment, we find large projected benefits of fisheries reform relative to business as usual. However, projected production volume is not higher than current output, which is inflated by ongoing overfishing. Aquaculture is found to have potential for substantial and complementary socioeconomic benefits. We highlight how Pakistan’s fisheries mirror global trends of plateauing wild capture and falling productivity and suggest key policy changes and investments along the value chain that can underpin more productive and sustainable fisheries in this context.