Assessment of allowable catches and exploitation state of marine fishery resources in Pakistani coastal waters

According to the catch statistics data during 1950−2015, we applied a Catch-MSY model to estimate the allowable catches and maximum sustainable yields (MSYs) for 24 commercial fish groups and total allowable catch (TAC) in Pakistani coastal waters. Results show that MSY and TAC in Pakistani coastal waters were 40.53×10⁴ t and 36.47×10⁴ t, respectively. The total catches in 2015 were less than MSY, suggesting that the fisheries are not overfished. The MSY results show that eight fish groups (cobia, Barracudas, Groupers, Butterfishes, common dolphinfish, dorab wolf-herring, crevalle jack and largehead hairtail) have been overfished at present since the catches in 2015 exceeded MSY. At present, the marine fishery resources in Pakistani coastal waters are fully exploited. Most commercial fish groups are overfished or recovering after collapse and their development potential is relatively small. It is recommended to exploit oceanic fishery resources such as Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in Arabian Sea in future fisheries development.