Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr.22/ Trend R.Zamanov
Some 9,300 tons of fisheries were exported from Iran's Mazandaran province in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended March 20, director of the province's Fisheries Organization (Shilat) said on Monday.
The amount shows 160 percent increase compared to its preceding year, the IRNA News Agency quoted Hasan Habibnejad as saying.
European and Asian countries including France, Germany, Switzerland, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkmenistan were the main destinations, he said.
Some 166 kilograms of caviar were also exported in the mentioned period, Habibnejad added.
Iran's annual catch in fishery sector was around 500,000 tons in the previous year.
Iran's total catch stood at 450,000 tons two years ago. The catch off the southern coast totaled 412,000 tons in the mentioned year, while the catch off the northern coast totaled 38,000 tons.
Access to the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and many river basins provides Iran the potential to develop excellent fisheries.
Iran has 1,786 kilometers of coastline on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. These southern waters are rich in fish and other marine resources.
Expansion of the fishery infrastructure would enable the country to harvest an estimated 700,000 tons of fish annually from the southern waters.
However, increased pollution from the oil industry and other enterprises poses a serious threat to this area's fishing industry.
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