Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.2 /Trend F.Karimov/
More than 6,190 tons of sea food have been exported from Iran's Hormozgan province in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, Hormozgan province's fishery department director Qodrat Mirzadeh said, ISNA reported on Nov. 2.
Hormozgan province is located in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf.
The exports are valued at $17.994 million, the official said, adding that exporting sea food which is not consumed in Iran is a source of income for the country.
Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Thailand, South Korea, Egypt, the UAE, Spain, and Greece were the main destinations of the exports, he noted.
The official also said that shrimp production dropped by 22 per cent and stood at 437 tons due to low precipitation, pollution, and illegal catching.
In September, Mirzadeh said that Hormozgan province is the hub of fishery in Iran as over 60 fish processing factories are active in the province.
Currently, 36 fish processing units are active in the province with the total production capacity of 7,200 tons per year, he said.
Also, nine canned fish production units are active with the annual production capacity of 55 million canned fish, he added.
Iranian Fishery Organization Director Gholamreza Razeqi said that the value of exports of Iran's fishery sector will surpass $350 million in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21.
"The exports stood at $210 million last year," Razeqi said, IRNA reported.
Some 4,000 tons of shrimp, valued at around $17 million, was exported last year to the UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Australia and Spain, he said, adding that infrastructures have been provided to export 500 kilograms of caviar in the current year.