Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 11
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
During the first five months (March 21-August 22) of this Iranian year (started March 21, 2019), 2,666 tons of sprat were caught in Iran’s Mazandaran province in the Caspian Sea, said Ghasem Karimzadeh, deputy director of the Mazandaran Province Fisheries Administration, Trend reports referring to IRNA.
He said that the cost of the caught sprat is 110 billion rials (about $2.16 million).
He added that during the same period last year, 2,720 tons of sprat worth 30 billion rials ($714,000) were caught.
Noting that the volume of the caught sprat decreased by 2 percent compared to last year, he added that this was because the days with unstable weather conditions in the Caspian Sea increased.
“Because the price of powdered fishmeal increased, the price of sprat also grew by 265 percent compared to the same period last year,” he said.
He added that the price per kg of fishmeal was 11,000 rials (about $0.26) last year, and it increased to 41,200 rials (about $0.98) this year.
He noted that about 90 percent of the caught sprat are turned into fishmeal, and the rest are processed and sold.
He added that there are 44 ships that catch sprat are operating in the province.