International Journal of Marine Science 2015, Vol.5, No.18, 1-7
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3 Discussion
Debate over a true affiliation between trade and
economy of a country has always been a hot topic for
economists. This quest started in late 70’s (Michaely,
1977). Various views, opinions and conclusions have
been drawn to fully portrait link between them. It is a
proven fact that there exists close relationship between
exports, imports and the economy of country. Many
purpose oriented studies to evaluate this association
ended with a conclusion that countries having a large
volume of exports grow faster than those with smaller
export volume (Marin, 1992; Thornton, 1996). One
model concluded that increased international trade
increases the number of inputs and hence boost up the
growth (Romer, 1990). Generally growth in export is
considered to be the main factor indicating production
and employment growth in a country. This assumption
is called export-led growth (ELG). Explaining ELG
we say that if there is increased foreign trade then
there is an expansion in the production and
employment. Increased trade means increased foreign
exchange that obviously allows importing capital
goods leading to enhance the production potential.
When production increases it accelerates technical
progress in production, so concluding a relation
between exports and production growth (Edwards,
1998).
There is another alternative, instead of ELG, for
boosting up the economy called import-led growth
(ILG). As the name implies, it is the increase in
economy growth by enhancing imports. However,
most studies give preference to ELG over ILG. There
are some who think positively about ILG. Their view
is that imports have long term impact on the economy
of a country. By imports not only the technology is
transferred from other countries but also growth
promoting foreign R & D is accessed (Coe and
Helpman, 1995; Mazumdar, 2000).
In Pakistan there has been an increased trend in the
awareness about the trade and its potential impacts
on economy. That is why various governmental and
private organizations are striving for better economy
by improving trade. During the last two decades
there has been decline in export quantity of fish
(dried, salted or smoked) lowering the revenue
generated by this commodity. However increase in
the export quantity of fish (frozen, excluding fillets
and meat) has been observed. For both of the fish
commodities there was a decline in the export
quantity during the period between 2003 and 2010.
The main reason for this diminished export was ban
on the purchase of seafood imposed by EU market.
The world economic downfall from the start of the
2000 caused severe effects on the trade of Pakistan.
There has been an increased trend in the import of
fish (dried and frozen) during this period. The
decrease in export of fish (dried) and increase in
export is due to multiple factor in addition to the
world economy slump (MinFAL). The hunt of
increased profit and earning profits on import are two
main factors responsible for this. By exporting fish
commodity companies earn a lot of money and by
importing and selling at higher price in their own
country bring additional profit.
Furthermore this vicious trend is also due to the fact
that our water (particularly marine) has been exploited
extensively for fisheries capture to earn more and
more money. Every year capture of fishes exceeding
the MYS value have resulted in the less genetic
diversity of fish populations as well as low catch per
effort ratio (MFD). The correct recording of data
representing original catch and status of fish is also
questionable in Pakistan. Combating these
shortcomings and removing such deficiencies shall
definitely a promising step towards a prosperous
Pakistan.
4 Conclusion
This study highlighted fisheries production and its
trade trend over the last two decades. This agricultural
commodity can be proved very good for boosting our
economy. Despite of various efforts there is much to
be improved in this agricultural sector. Many groups
including MinFAL, FAO, MFD, SMEDA and various
NGO’s are working for a common goal. However
there are many problems to which government should
find a solution. By increasing export and promoting
this sector we can enhance our economy.
Acknowledgement
The first author is thankful to Chinese Scholarship Council
(CSC) for funding his PhD Degree. This work was supported
by the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology
Research System of China and special research fund of Ocean
University of China. Authors are also thankful to FAO and
MFD for data procurement.
