An official at World Wide Fund (WWF) has revealed that approximately 90 per cent of the fish consumed in Pakistan is contaminated and unfit for human consumption.
Muhammad Moazzam Khan, WWF’s technical advisor on marine fisheries, made the statement at a seminar titled “Blue Economy: An Avenue for Development in Pakistan” held at the Pakistan Institute of International affairs.
He said that most of the fish sold on roadside carts is unhealthy for health because of lack of proper processing. He suggested that fish should be stored between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius to keep it from rotting.
“Fish are very delicate protein items and putrefy very quickly if not iced or frozen as soon as possible,” said Khan. “It is usually kept at room temperature and sometimes at above 40 degrees Celsius and vendors sprinkle water on them to make them look fresher and keep them from decaying. But they have already become unfit for consumption, yet people buy and consequently, fall sick.”
He also mentioned that the export of seafood was increasing but due to a lack of processing facilities and low-quality control, we were unable to achieve higher numbers. Pakistan exported around 10 per cent of the produce and the rest was degraded or damaged as most boats lacked deep freezers and other storage facilities.
