Challenges to Pakistan's blue economy highlighted.

KARACHI -- Speakers at a seminar held on the Bahria University-Karachi campus (BUKC) on Monday identified growing coastal and marine pollution, lack of mechanisms to ensure supply of good quality fish to the market and climate change as major challenges being faced by Pakistan's blue economy.

Titled 'Promoting Maritime Fisheries in Pakistan - Opportunities, Challenges and Way Forward', the event was aimed at bridging the gaps between education and research in the field of maritime sciences.

It provided a platform to technical experts and scholars to discuss issues pertinent to marine fisheries and aquaculture that could help bring about socio-economic development in the coastal communities and improve the sector's contribution to the economy.

In his welcome address, retired rear admiral Mukhtar Khan, the BUKC director general, highlighted the socio-economic and environmental issues of Pakistan's blue economy.

He also informed the audience about the role the university was playing in tackling these challenges and said it had taken the initiative to develop relevant human resource by establishing the School of Maritime Sciences.

'It is to become a role model in higher education and research in the field of maritime sciences,' he said.

Spokesperson for Balochistan Chief Minister Azeem Khan Kakar underscored the need for holding such programmes on a regular basis saying such initiatives brought experts together on one platform, created awareness of Pakistan's blue economy and its impact on the country's development and...