Chapter 2: Natural Resources

Water Resources - an Issue of sustainability

Sources of Water
➔ Ground water: Water present below the soil OR Water brought up to surface by
various methods such as tube wells and karez system
➔ Water bodies: Water present in water bodies on the surface of earth such as Lakes, Oceans,
Rivers) OR Water transported by canals

The Rivers of Pakistan

- Rivers of Balochistan

➔ River Zhob, Khandhar and Kalaichi drain into River Indus

➔ The rivers Loralai, Chakar, Bolan and Mula flow into Kachi Sibi Plain
➔ Rivers Hub, Porali, Hingol and Mashkel drain into Arabian Sea

- The Indus Rivers System

➔ Eastern Tributaries: River Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej

➔ Western Rivers: River Kabul, Khurram, Tochi, Gomal, Swat
Map showing Rivers of Pakistan

Uses of Water

- Domestic Use

➔ Drinking, cooking, washing, sanitation

- Industrial Use

➔ For hydroelectric power (HEP)

➔ For pharmaceuticals e.g., syrups, drips, injections
➔ Tanning industry for washing leather
➔ Food processing industry for juices, squashes, beverages, etc
➔ Chemical industries for making acids, liquids bleach, and solutions
➔ In textile industries for washing bleaching, blueing, dying, printing
➔ In iron and steel industry for cooling down of furnaces
➔ Thermal power stations for making steam
 ➔ Mineral water industry uses water as raw material

Irrigation
➔ Irrigation refers to the artificial supply of water usually used for crops in farming
➔ 75% of cultivated area is under irrigation in pakistan
➔ Utilises water which would otherwise flow into the sea
➔ Allows barren lands such as deserts to be made productive

- The Need of Irrigation

➔ Increasing aridity in lands

➔ It is needed in arid or arid areas
➔ Spells of high temperature increase the rate of evapo-transpiration
➔ Unreliable rainfall especially monsoons
➔ Low amount of rainfall
➔ Small rainy days
➔ High variability in distribution
➔ Rainfall in heavy showers increases surface run-of

- Canal Irrigation

➔ By canal irrigation millions of gallons of water are utilised that would flow into Arabian Sea
➔ Cheap labor and availability of cement reduces the cost of canal construction
➔ Canal system irrigates a vast area. Even the deserts have been made productive
➔ Irregular supply of water in the river is then regulated by construction of dams and barrages
➔ Huge quantities of water from monsoon rainfall and melting snow can be stored in
reservoirs during summer season
➔ Soft soil and level land of the Indus Plain makes digging of canals easier than in the
rugged lands of Balochistan
➔ Southward slope of rivers makes construction of canals easier because water flows
southwards naturally

Methods of Irrigation
Modern Methods
➔ Irrigates a vast area
➔ Less time consuming
➔ Usually easier to build and maintain
➔ Usually doesn't require manual labour
➔ Costly compared to traditional methods
➔ High Maintenance cost
➔ Needs fuel, diesel, electricity etc
➔ Reduces groundwater or lowers the water table

- Tubewells

➔ Chemically or electrically operated machines

➔ Can raise water from the depth of 100 metres
 ➔ Can be used to irrigate a area of 1000 hectares

- Perennial Canals

➔ Canals which are taken out from dams and barrages

➔ It has water all the year round which provides an ease for agriculture
➔ Irrigates a vast area

- Sprinkles

➔ Connected to a water supply

➔ Mainly used in orchids and market gardening
➔ Placed in fields and shoot water around watering the fields
➔ It is an expensive method
➔ There is less wastage of water in this method than others

- Tankers

➔ They collect water from lakes and ponds to provide it to fields and houses in
case of emergency
➔ Very expensive
➔ Rarely used

Conventional Methods
➔ Also known as Traditional methods
➔ It irrigates a small area usually used for subsistence farming
➔ Time consuming and harder to build and maintain
➔ Requires manual labour
➔ Less costly compared to modern methods
➔ Less efcient and slower as compared to modern methods
➔ Contains unhygienic water
➔ Causes waterlogging and salinity

- Shaduf

➔ Well, river or canal is attached to the pole by a bucket on one side and weight on other side
➔ A small area can only be irrigated
➔ Animal power is also used as labour
➔ It is not used now

- Persian Wells

➔ Persian water wheel is a device used to raise water out of well or river
➔ It is a system of a chain of buckets slung round a vertical wheel, which is turned by a
system of another interlocking vertical and horizontal wheels powered by a bull driven in a
circle
➔ With the passage of time the wooden wheel is replaced by metal

- Charsa

➔ Charsa is an irrigation method in animal power is used to pull out water from a water source
 ➔ In this the small area irrigates and lots of time is wasted in this system of irrigation

- Karez

➔ Underground horizontal tunnel system that are dug in the foothills that brings underground
water to the surface
➔ Vertical shafts are also dug to maintain the tunnel and clear incase of any blockage
➔ Usually dug by a group of people who share the water
➔ These are only found in Balochistan to stop evapotranspiration

- Inundation canals

➔ Long canals taken of from rivers

➔ receives water when water table is high or in flood

Link Canals
➔ Link Canals transfer water from western rivers for eastern rivers
➔ The water lost to India from eastern river is compensated by these canals
➔ The link canals in Pakistan are:
● Marala-Ravi
● Bombanwala-Ravi-Badian–Depalpur
● Rasul–Qadirabad
● Qadirabad-Balloki
● Balloki-Sulaiman 1
● Balloki-Sulaiman 2
● Chashma-Jhelum
● Trimmu-Sidhnai
● Taunsa-Panjnad
● Sidhnai-Mailsi Bahawal

Dams
➔ They are huge barriers built on water routes such as rivers to store water and to
generate hydroelectric power (HEP)
➔ Tarbela dam is built on river indus
➔ It is the largest earth filled dam of pakistan
➔ It is 143 m high and covers an area of 243 sq. km
➔ Mangla dam is built on river Jhelum
➔ Dams can either be large or small and can be used to exploit their advantages
 Small Dams Large Dams

Store water for irrigation Store water for irrigation

Irrigates local areas only Irrigates a vast area

It is easier to solve silting problems It is difcult to solve silting problem

Low initial investment is required High initial Investment is required

Low maintenance cost High maintenance cost

Less constructing time is required Mor constructing time is required

Less Labour required Labours are required on large-scale

Little impact on rivers, watersheds and Extensive impact on river, watersheds and
aquatic ecosystems aquatic ecosystems

Water is used for Industrial and domestic Water is used for Industrial and domestic
use use

Little or no electricity is generated Major source for electricity generation

Less important for flood control More important for flood control

- Requirements

➔ Low temperature
➔ High altitude
➔ Mountainous area with steep slope at the fall and gentle at bottom
➔ Snowfall area
➔ Area with more rainfall
➔ Flow of fast river to move the turbine

- Functions

➔ Produce HEP (HydroElectric Power)

➔ Scenic Beauty
➔ Attract tourists for foreign exchange
➔ Fishing in reservoirs
➔ Storage of water in reservoirs
➔ Store water for irrigation
➔ Canals can be taken out from dams

Barrages
➔ Large structure used for irrigation and flood control
➔ Not involved in the generation of electricity or hep
➔ Construction cost is less than that of dam
➔ Can be made even in flat areas
 ➔ Properties such as size and capacity depends on width of river

- Examples of barrages

Barrages Location Area under irrigation

Sukkur Barrage River Indus Nawabshah, Larkana

Guddu Barrage River Indus Jacobad, Ghotki

Kotri Barrage River Indus Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta

Marala Barrage River Chenab Sialkot, Gujranwala

Rasul Barrage River Jhelum Sargodha, Gujrat

Chashma Barrage River Indus Punjab & KPK

⬆ Map showing Dams & Barrage of Pakistan

Water logging & Salinity

➔ Water logging is the rise of water table to the surface level
 ➔ Excess water in land causes water logging
➔ When the excess water dries up and salt is spread, Salinity is observed

- Solution

➔ Lining of canals
➔ Canal closure when the water is not needed
➔ Installing tubewells to pump out water to lower the water level
➔ Planting eucalyptus trees
➔ Draining of water from lands
➔ Treating the land with chemical or limestone

- Organisations

➔ SCARP ( Salinity Control and Reclamation Project) is working for treatment of waterlogged
and saline areas
➔ WAPDA ( Water and Power Development Authority)
➔ IRSA ( Indus River System Authority) is working to eradicate the problem
➔ SDO ( Small Dams Organization) is working to build new small dams

Siltation
➔ Material brought by riverflow that deposits in water reservoirs such as dams is called silt
➔ It Leads to decreased capacity in reservoirs

- Causes

➔ Silt is eroded from the mountains with the help of river flow of river
➔ Eroded material from narrow and deep valleys causes siltation
➔ Due to deforestation, a fast flow of silt accumulates

- Effects

➔ Weaken the foundation of dams

➔ Blockage of canals
➔ Reduction in storing capacity of water in Dams
➔ It can result in floods
➔ Fluctuation of electricity due to silt in turbines

- Solutions

➔ Aforestation programmes be made

➔ Cemented embankments be made
➔ Silt traps be installed before flow of water in dam
➔ Raising the height of dam to increase the capacity of reservoir
➔ Operating the water level at low pace when flood flows

Indus Water Treaty

➔ Water distribution treaty between Pakistan and India
➔ Arranged and negotiated by world bank in 1960
 ➔ This treaty gave full flow control of three eastern rivers named Beas, Ravi and Sutlej to India
➔ Pakistan was given full flow of Rivers Indus, Chenab and Jhelum
➔ Treaty included construction of Tarbela and Mangla dams, construction of 5
barrages, remodelling of existing canals and head works and construction of eight
link canals
➔ The treaty ensured that India wouldn’t cut of Pakistan's water supply and Pakistan's
water supply is maintained and its agricultural production is unharmed

- Causes

➔ Pakistan's climatic condition is mostly dry and hot which results in low and unreliable
rainfall rate
➔ Pakistan's population is increasing, resulting in more demand for food which can only
be provided by use of irrigation due to the climate condition of pakistan
➔ As india cut of the water supply famine,droughts and starvation became a rising problem
for Pakistan due to shortage of water for irrigation
➔ Pakistan decided to take the matter into International court

Water Pollution

- Causes of Water Pollution

➔ Sewage discharged into rivers

➔ Domestic garbage thrown into rivers
➔ Fertilisers runof from agricultural fields
➔ Industrial waste discharged into rivers
➔ Waste from ship discharged into rivers
➔ Leakage of oil from ship enters water sources

- Consequences

➔ Contaminates water and remains no longer drinkable

➔ Cost of treatment of water is high
➔ Causes disease such as diarrhoea and cholera
➔ Unpleasant smell and destroys scenic beauty
➔ Harmful chemical substances kill aquatic life resulting in decreased fish catch
➔ Can damage machinery
➔ Blocks ditches, canals and causes flooding
➔ Provides breeding ground for mosquito larvae

- Solution

➔ Treatment of sewage water

➔ Improving sanitation facilities in poor quality housing
➔ Proper waste management and dumping of domestic and industrial waste
➔ Organic farming (Alternative to chemical fertilisers/pesticides) or selective use of fertiliser
➔ Fines charged on Water polluters
➔ Maintenance of oil ships
Management of Water resources
➔ Ways to increase water supply
➔ Small dams and large dams should be developed to store surplus water during rainy seasons
such as monsoon
➔ Canals should be lined to save runof of water into the soil
➔ Prevention of water pollution to avoid contaminated water
➔ Desalination of salt water (conversion of salt water to fresh)
➔ Public awareness to the disadvantages of loss of water

Water as a resource for development

➔ Used for irrigation which improves yield significantly in agricultural sector
➔ Used in number of industries (tanning,food,water based consumables)
➔ Universal access to safe drinking water provides better hygiene, sanitation and safe
drinking water overall raises living standards
➔ Used to produce steam and turbines in power producing stations such as nuclear, thermal,
geothermal power stations and HEPs (dams)
Forest - An Issue of Sustainability
➔ Forest is a complex ecological system of land dominated by trees covering 4.8% of the
land of Pakistan.
➔ There are two types of forests; Productive forests or natural forest and Protection forests
or man-made plantation.

Productive Forests Protective Forests

Natural Forests Artificial or man-made Forests

Alpine, coniferous, etc are It includes vegetation planted by man

incorporated here like riverain

High density of trees Tree density is moderate

They are highly valuable to businesses They don't have much commercial value

Greater biodiversity Less biodiversity

It advances tourism Industry It promotes tourism

The vegetation grows in a random manner The vegetations grown are linear

They safeguard the environment by They protect the environment by preventing

forestalling soil erosion & by going about from soil erosion and by acting as carbon
as carbon sinks it cleans the environment sinks it cleans the environment

- Importance of Forests

➔ Fuel wood
➔ Provide Shade, Natural habitat for animals
➔ Prevent soil erosion & Increase soil fertility
➔ Reduce pollution
➔ Timber is extracted from trees for the construction and transport industry
➔ Rainwater for wood based industry
➔ Ensures supply of Fruits
➔ Herbs for medicines and pharmaceuticals
➔ Wood pulp for paper
➔ Attract tourists, Provide scenic beauty and a source of foreign exchange for the local people
➔ Controls flood
➔ Brings rainfall, Lowers the temperature and makes the weather pleasant
➔ Regulate the supply of water
➔ A medical herb, Ephemera is obtained
➔ Resin is obtained for turpentine oil and gum
➔ Mazri is obtained for making mats and cap
 Types of Forests
Type Area Description Importance

Alpine Northern Areas Stunted growth due to low Fuel wood

temperature and sunlight

Coniferous Northern Areas, KPK, Evergreen forests with Timber, environmental

Balochistan Mountains conical shape protection

Tropical Sindh Plain, Sindh Low height forest with thorny Firewood
Thorn Plain, Punjab Plain, hardwood
(Rakh) Balochistan

Sub-Tropical Srub Foothills of Lower Subtropical broad-leaved and Watershed protection,

Himalayas, thorny supplying firewood, grazing
Western Mountains purposes

Riverain or Bela River Indus & its Linear plantation along the Provide Shishum & Babul
tributaries banks of rivers for making furniture,
agricultural implements

Mangrove Coastal Areas of Low trees and shrubs on tidal Firewood, breeding grounds,
Sindh and mud flats coastal protection
Balochistan
Irrigated Changa Manga, Wan Economically important Timber, firewood, shade
Bachran, Chichawatni, species planted in large
Ghulam Mohammad, blocks
Guddu Barrages

- Factors determining the type of Forest

➔ Areas with diferent altitudes have diferent types of forests

➔ Aridity is another factor for e.g Aridity in Balochistan favours the growth of thorny bushes
and shrubs
➔ Higher Precipitation in Northern Mountain encourages the growth of Coniferous Forest
➔ Edaphic Factors(types of soil) also determine the type and density of Forest in Pakistan
➔ In the Hub and Indus Delta, the deposition of alluvium encourages the growth of
Mangrove Forest

Deforestation
➔ Excess cutting of trees in a land is called deforestation

- Causes

➔ For fuel wood as well as timber for industries

➔ Urbanisation, e.g building roads and railways
➔ Clearing lands for farming (growing of crops)
➔ Overgrazing by animals
 ➔ Clear land for mining

- Effects

➔ Exposure of soil leads to erosion and Upper topsoil humus layer is eroded
➔ Leads to infertility of land and increases surface runof
➔ Results in flood, since there are no trees to reduce the flow of river
➔ Results in Siltation of Dams (Reduction of capacity of water in dams)
➔ Loss of habitat for animals
➔ Increase in temperature, while lack of oxygen
➔ Increases pollution
➔ Brings less rainfall
➔ Disrupts generation of electricity HEP in dams due to siltation, since there are no trees to
hold the silt being deposited in the dams

- Solutions

➔ Aforestation programs (AKRSP, Rachna Doab Project)

➔ Provide substitute areas for growing forest, if the land is being used for crop farming
➔ Substitute for furniture
➔ Supply of CNG, LPG for fuel wood species
➔ Reserve land to grow fuel wood species
➔ NGOs may provide awareness among people
➔ Improve techniques for raising nurseries
➔ Strict forest laws be imposed to stop bulldozing in forests by logging companies
➔ Selective cutting methods be used
➔ Strip Farming

- Sustainable Forestry

➔ Sustainable Forestry refers to the use of forests and forests lands in such a way that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their demands
➔ Hence, Forests should be used in such a way and at a rate that maintains their
biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity and their potential to fulfil now and in the
future relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national and global levels
and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems

- Ways to Sustain Forests

➔ Community Forestry and AgroForestry

➔ Planting trees to fill, replace gaps in forests especially in vulnerable areas such as on slopes
➔ Use dead branches for firewood rather than chopping trees down
➔ Educate and train local people into sustainable ways of use
➔ Plant fast growing agricultural trees like oil palms, eucalyptus
➔ Maintain a complete forest cover to prevent soil damage
➔ The tree crops can be used to shelter smaller food crops
➔ Wood needed for other purposes such as fuel can be provided by planting patching of
fast growing eucalyptus trees
➔ Harvesting of HardWoods
➔ Selective logging of trees of greatest commercial value
➔ Taking out only mature trees and leaving the rest to grow to full size
➔ Keep forest clearances small so that rapid generation is possible
➔ Do a preliminary survey to find the most suitable logging areas
➔ Check cutting of timber and ensure a long gap before next cutting
Mineral Resources - an Issue of Sustainability
Formation of Minerals
➔ Due to sediment deposits, sedimentary rocks are formed
➔ When lava from the volcanoes cools down, igneous rocks are formed in crystals form
➔ The mixture of igneous and sedimentary rocks makes the metamorphic rocks

Methods of Mining

1. Open Cast Mining

➔ Applied when a seam of mineral is observed on the surface
➔ Blasting and digging takes place for getting the mineral

2. Underground Mining

- Adit Mining

➔ Applied when mineral seam is found along the slope or hill of mountain
➔ Horizontal tunnels are dug to enter and then extraction takes place

- Shaft Mining

➔ Vertical shafts are dug deep, then horizontal digging takes place to extract the mineral
➔ Underground mining is a dangerous process
➔ Many poisonous gases can help in sufocation and death of the miners
➔ Rock blasting can block the miners inside the mine
➔ Elevators are also used

- Quarrying

➔ Open excavation method, when a seam of the rock is observed on the surface especially
soft rock, limestone
➔ It can be extracted with the help of power shovels, hammers, wedges and spades

- Hand Panning Method

➔ The rock is broken from the mountain

➔ A huge pan is placed at the bottom of the mountain
➔ The rock which falls is shaken in the huge pan, the gold and sand separated like that, then
the mineral is collected
Problems Faced by Mining Sector
➔ Lack of capital
➔ Lack of experts
➔ Lack of skilled labour
➔ Lack of machinery
➔ Lack of interest by the government for the sector
➔ Institutional mismanagement
➔ Inaccessible areas due to lack of infrastructure such as roads, electricity etc

Metallic Minerals
➔ They resemble metals and have characteristics of metals e.g. they are shiny, hard and smooth
➔ They are good conductors of heat and electricity
➔ They can be moulded into diferent shape
➔ Economically valuable
➔ Generally hard, tough and shiny
➔ Can be stretched and compressed
➔ More reactive with water and acid

- Chromite
➔ Chromite gives hardness and electrical resistance to steel
➔ It is used for bridges and railway carriages
➔ It is also used as a lining in metallurgical furnaces and for making engineering tools
and stainless steel etc

- Iron Ore
➔ Steel making, construction and transport industry

- Copper
➔ Making electrical wires and other electrical appliances, especially switches that carry
current, also used in making alloys, water pipes

- Manganese
➔ Used in making dry batteries, paints. It is a vital alloy in steel making, flares and flashbulbs

- Bauxite
➔ Aluminium is mainly obtained from bauxite and is a valuable metal. Uses: utensils, tins, cans,
etc. and many other products

- Celestite
➔ Found in the cavities of sedimentary rocks. Uses: tracer bullets, fireworks, ceramics, paints and
plastics

Non-Metallic Materials
➔ They are softer, rougher and less shiny
➔ They break away when their shape is changed
➔ They cannot be stretched or compressed
 ➔ They are poor thermal and electrical conductors
➔ Economically less valuable
➔ Less reactive with water and acid

- Rock Salt
➔ Seams of rock salt vary in thickness from between 20 to 100 metres thick
➔ The rocks are white or pink in colour
➔ The salt is overlain by gypsum and clay
➔ Rock salt is used for cooking and preservative purposes and for the manufacture of soda
ash, bicarbonate of soda, caustic soda and other sodas for laundry, textiles, and tanning

- Brine
➔ Used in the chemical and fertiliser industry

- Limestone
➔ Limestone is a major sedimentary deposit and is widespread in Pakistan
➔ It is the main raw material for cement
➔ It is also used in the manufacture of bleaching powder, glass, soap, paper, paints and lime
➔ It is used to treat sugarcane waste to produce alcohol fuel
➔ It is painted on the barks of trees to counter pests and termite attacks
➔ It is also used to aerate soil and treat salinity

- Coal
➔ Pakistan has low-quality coal
➔ Coal is mainly used in brick kilns, some is used to make coke and coal briquettes and a
small percentage is used for power generation
➔ It is planned to build a thermal power station to use coal from a new coalfield in Thar District

- Natural Gas
➔ Domestic and industrial uses

-Mineral Oil
➔ It is used as a power source, as a lubricant for machines, and as motor fuel

-Gypsum
➔ Found in grey, white and pink colour
➔ It is used in the manufacture of paints, fertilisers and prefabricated boards
➔ White gypsum is used for making cement and Plaster of Paris. Spread on Saline soil to
help land reclamation for farming

-Marble
➔ Found in bands of white, grey, yellow and brown
➔ It is used in buildings and for making chips for flooring and decorative pieces

-Clay
➔ Clays are fine-grained minerals
➔ In Pakistan, the most important industrial clays are China Clay, Fire Clay and Fuller's Earth
 -Magnesium
➔ It has a high percentage of magnesia, (about 50%)
➔ It is used in the manufacture of cement, fertilisers, rayon, paper pulp, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals

-Sulphur
➔ Sulphur is used in chemical industries to manufacture sulphuric acid, paints, explosive
materials, dyes, rayon and fertilisers

Minerals and their locations

Minerals Location Minerals Location Minerals Location

Kalabagh Khewra Warcha

Langrail Dandot Khewra
Iron Ore Kohat Limestone Dandkhel Rock Salt Karak
Muzafargarh D.G Khan Kalabagh

Loralai Quetta Kohala

Bauxite Salt Range Sulphur Koh-i-sultan Barite Faqir
Muhammad
Chaghi Salt Range Kot Diji-Sukkur
Chromite Kharan Gypsum Potwar Plateau China Clay Thano Bula
Zhob Margalla Hills Khan Salt-range

Zhob Antimony NWFP Balochistan

Copper Waziristan Magnetite

Zhob Sor range Daud Khel

Manganese Lasbela Coal Lakhra Celestite Thanobula
Mach Khan

Marble Thano Bulla Khan Potwar SUI

Mullagori Maneri Mineral Oil Lower Sindh Natural Pirkoh
Gunjo Takar Badin Gas Khandkot

Importance of Mining Industry

➔ They contribute to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the GNP (Gross National Product)
➔ They provide raw material for diferent industries
➔ They can be exported to foreign countries e.g. marble, rock salt
➔ They earn foreign exchange for the country by their export
➔ Through mining domestic requirements are fulfilled which prevents import thereby
saving foreign exchange
➔ They improve Balance of Trade and Payment
➔ Reduces rural-urban migration as they are found in remote areas
➔ people get jobs in mines which prevents migration
➔ It provides employment for the people
 ➔ They attract foreign investment for exploration and exploitation

Effects on Environment
➔ Pollution (air, water, land, noise)
➔ Vegetation is cut down
➔ Dust, smoke are observed
➔ Blasting causes noise and vibration
➔ Depressions are caused which result in soil exposure
➔ Rock blasting causes great trouble
➔ Deformation of landscape

Measures to take

- Measures for Miners

➔ Special precautions as land shall be levelled

➔ Mining waste and fumes be disposed of of
➔ Miners are provided proper clothing, masks,masks, etc. Trees will be planted
➔ Alongside the mining area, housing, medical, schools, parks be provided

- Make Mining Sustainable

➔ Discharge of toxic substances and the release of heat which is harmful to the
environment should be checked
➔ The application of science and technology to enhance the industry's competitiveness
and environmental protection
➔ Government should consider the concept of sustainable development when making
policies which afect minerals and metals industry
Fishing Industry - an Issue of Sustainability
- Uses Of Fish

➔ Adds 0.9% to GDP

➔ Nutritious white meat and delicious food
➔ Oil extracted provides vitamin A and D
➔ Fish waste is used to make fertiliser and poultry feed
➔ Pakistan earns about 6% of foreign exchange over fish

Types Of Fishing

1. Marine Fishing
➔ Marine Fishing is practised alongside seawater of Sindh and Balochistan
➔ Sindh coast covers 30% of the coastline, while the Makran coast covers 70% of the
total seaside
➔ It is mostly Practised in sea and ports and 68% of fisherman are involved in marine fishing
➔ It is classified into Subsistence and Commercial Fishing
➔ Types of Fish catch are: Sharks, Croakers, Skates, Drums, Catfish, Rays

- Subsistence Fishing

➔ Catching fish for personal usage is referred as subsistence fishing

➔ Conventional techniques and methods are used, such as traditional net, a small wooden
boat which travels 3-5 km deep
➔ They get a nominal catch and use baskets to collect the fish
➔ A fish farmer cannot rely on permanent source of income

- Commercial Fishing

➔ Fisherman make huge profits and sell it to the market

➔ Modern methods are used such as Mechanised boats, gill-netters, ships which can go 50-
60 km deep etc
➔ It is for the sole purpose of income
➔ Refrigeration facilities are available, storage is easily and efectively done

- Main Fishing Centres

➔ Sindh Coast:
● Karachi Keamari
➔ Balochistan Coast:
● Jiwani
● Gwadar
● Pasni
● Ormara
● Sonmiani
● Gidani
2. Inland Fishing
➔ It is a type of fishing practised inland such as in lakes, reservoirs of dams and small ponds
➔ 32 % of fisherman are involved in this

- Main Fishing Centers

➔ Manchar Lake in Dadu District

➔ Kairi, Keenjhar lake, North of Thatta
➔ Haleji Lake, west of Thatta
➔ Reservoirs of Mangla and Tarbela Dam
➔ River Indus at Sukkur, Kotri and Thatta

- Main Fishing Centres

- Types of fishes in Inland Fishing

➔ Mahseer
➔ Palla
➔ Thalla
➔ Rahu
➔ Tront
➔ Grass carp
➔ Silverfish

Fish Farming

➔ Fish Farming refers to the rearing or farming of fish, it is also known as Aquaculture
➔ Ponds are made by humans with a cemented base to avoid water loss
➔ The side of the pond is solidified mud and trees are planted for oxygen to be given to
marine life
Developing the Fishing Industry
➔ Processing facilities must be increased
➔ Modern methods should be considered
➔ Provide loans to fisherman
➔ Increase storage facilities for fisherman
➔ Modern machinery must be provided to fisherman

- Benefits

➔ Huge income for fisherman

➔ Production of fishes would increase in the market
➔ Increase in employment
➔ More foreign exchange

- Obstacles for fishing Industry

➔ Spillage of oil from ships and domestic and industrial waste is causing harm to
fishing industry
➔ Mostly Karachi fishing labour is afected by pollutants
➔ Numerous chemicals as carcinogenic qualities, toxic materials and
heavy metals including cadmium, aluminium and nickel have been found
in marine life. They also enter the food chain of people whose diet
includes fish/seafood
➔ Extensive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture is
another source of water pollution
➔ Overfishing of shrimps throughout the year even in breeding season
leads to by catch which results in wastage
➔ Threat to Mangroves, They are a barrier to protect the coastline.
These are best breeding grounds for fish and shrimps but due to
decrease in mangroves, there has also been a decrease in the
breeding of fish

- Sustainable Fisheries

➔ The government should take these factors into consideration when

developing fisheries/ fish industry
➔ Banning the use of illegal nets having small holes for catching small, growing fish
➔ Not allow foreign deep sea trawlers to operate in the Arabian Sea area under
Pakistan control
➔ Maintain ecological balance by strict enforcement of laws against cutting
of Mangrove forests and water pollution