Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.27 /Trend F.Milad/
Iran's annual catch in the fishing sector is expected to reach 500,000 tons by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2013), director of Iran's fisheries organisation (Shilat) said on Tuesday.
Iran's total catch stood at 450,000 tons last year, Ali Asghar Mojahedi said, IRNA reported.
Last year the catch off the southern coast totalled 412,000 tons, while the catch off the northern coast was 38,000 tons.
The value of exports of Iran's fishery sector will surpass $350 million in the current calendar year which began on March 20, the deputy agriculture minister said in October.
"Exports stood at $210 million last year," Gholamreza Razeqi said, the IRNA News Agency reported.
Some 4000 tons of shrimp, valued at around $17 million, was exported last year to UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Australia and Spain, he said, adding that infrastructures have been provided to export 500 kilogrammes of caviar in the current year.
Iran plans to increase the annual caviar output 10 fold to one ton in the current calendar year which began on March 20, Razeqi said in June.
He added that some 100 kilogrammes of caviar has been produced since the beginning of the current year and that a portion of the output has been exported.
Access to the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and many river basins provides Iran with the potential to develop excellent fisheries.
Iran has 1786 kilometres of coastline on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. These southern waters are rich in fish and other marine resources.
Expansion of the fishing infrastructure would enable the country to harvest an estimated 700,000 tons of fish annually from southern waters. However, increased pollution from the oil industry and other enterprises poses a serious threat to this area's fishing industry.