Pakistan’s prized trout under threat as climate change, overfishing take toll

Gilgit-Baltistan region, famed for its towering peaks, vast glaciers and pristine lakes, is facing a sharp decline in its prized trout population as climate change, habitat loss and overfishing threaten the species.

Its icy, glacier-fed waters provide an ideal environment for the breeding of trout, one of Pakistan’s most prized freshwater fish.

In recent years, however, the trout population has drastically reduced due to a slew of climate and human-induced factors, which include habitat fragmentation, pollution, construction of hydropower projects, and, on top of all, overfishing.

According to experts and officials, the trout population has been slashed by 50 per cent over the past two decades.

“Climate change-induced flash floods have been destroying spawning habitats of trout in most streams and tributaries by changing sediments and gravel size,” said Farasat Ali, an official of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan.

Speaking to Anadolu, he said the local rivers and streams are still in good condition, but overfishing via dynamite, net and electricity shock is posing serious challenges to trout populations.

Hydropower stations, he added, pose another major challenge to trout migration and life cycles, as most projects in Gilgit-Baltistan were designed without fish ladders or bypass systems to allow fish movement.

Trout, he noted, naturally move upstream for breeding, and without such provisions, entire populations of offspring could be lost in the same habitat.

Inayat Ali, an assistant director at Gilgit-Baltistan’s Fisheries Department, said dramatic climate change, particularly regular floods since 2010 and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), have badly impacted the trout population in the region.

“Trout requires fresh and clean water with good amounts of oxygen to survive and grow. While floods and landslides bring mud and rocks, which spoil the water quality and subsequently destroy the trout’s breeding grounds,” Ali told Anadolu.

Improved road infrastructure adds to overfishing

Not only the number, but the size of the fish has also reduced over the passage of time, reflecting the adverse impacts of overfishing.

“It’s rare to catch a trout above 1 kilogram nowadays. They are mostly between 500 and 600 grams. Until a decade ago, 2kg or above single catch was normal,” Ali said.

Although there have been no official surveys or statistics about trout population, conservative estimates suggest a 50pc decline in the number of fish over the past two decades, Ali added.

The figure was also endorsed by Khadim Hussain, a local environment protection agency official.

Hussain cited an improved road and transport infrastructure as a key factor behind overfishing and commercial catching.

“Road infrastructure has been significantly improved across Gilgit-Baltistan in recent years, providing access to even far-flung areas, where lakes and streams are full of trout. It has given a boost to commercial catching,” he told Anadolu.

The colonial connection

Trout is not an endemic species to Gilgit-Baltistan.

It is an exotic species which has killed most of the region’s native fish species in many rivers and streams.

British colonial officers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced trout to the region.

Gilgit-Baltistan is home to two kinds of trout - brown trout and rainbow trout, with the former in abundance.

The picturesque Ghizer district is known as a hub of trout.

Fishing is banned from October to March – a six-month breeding period for trout — although the ban is often violated.

Obtaining a licence for trout hunting is mandatory, according to the regional government’s law.

The fisheries department issues 5,000 to 6,000 seasonal and daily fishing licenses yearly, compared to 1,000 to 1,500 a decade ago.

Booming trout farming industry

An increasing demand for the species has led to a booming trout farming industry across the region.

“On the one hand, trout numbers are decreasing in the rivers and lakes, while on the other, its farming is on the rise in the entire region,” Ali said.

Within the past three to four years, the number of trout farms across the region has soared to over 450, up from barely over 100, supplying around 600 tons of trout yearly across Pakistan.

Since 2013, the fisheries department has been providing guidance and financial assistance for trout farming, which has become a “lucrative business” opening up new employment opportunities across the region.

Maaz Alam, who set up a trout farm in Ghizer district in 2017, is currently supplying 10 tons of fish yearly to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities amid an increasing demand and profits.

“The demand for trout is gradually increasing not only domestically (Gilgit-Baltistan) but across Pakistan as well,” Alam told Anadolu, adding that there is an 80% to 100% return in trout farming.

A bulk of the trout production is consumed domestically, following a surge in local tourism.

“No tourist returns from here without tasting a trout, which has become a hallmark of Gilgit-Baltistan.”

The region, according to Alam, has the potential to export trout to the regional nations, particularly the Middle East, but it requires proper marketing and high-quality packaging.

“That we cannot do without the government or a third-party support,” he said.

Trophy hunting programs

Farasat, the WWF official, called for community-based fish conservation and management like trophy hunting programs, to boost the dwindling trout population.

A sustainable trophy hunting program and greater community involvement have already helped Pakistan maintain a year-long trend of an increase in the population of its national animal, the markhor.

The Gilgit-Baltistan government, last year, auctioned permits to hunt endangered markhor for a record $370,000, one of the highest permits in the world to kill an animal.

The government uses the money to support local communities with initiatives such as building schools, mosques, health centres, and even providing scholarships to students.

About 80pc of the amount generated through the hunting license program, launched in early 2000, is spent on local communities, while the remainder goes to the national exchequer.

“This formula will boost not only fish population but also wetlands conservation of specific areas,” Farasat said.