Azerbaijan, Baku, May.28/ Trend R.Zamanov
About 56,000 tons of fish in the value of $ 214 million was exported from Iran in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended March 20, the Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said.
The figures show 5.4 and 3.7 pert cent increase in terms of value and weight, respectively in comparison to its preceding year, the IRNA News Agency quoted him as saying.
European and Asian countries including France, Germany, Switzerland, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkmenistan were the main destinations.
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 at the southern coast totaled 412,000 tons in the mentioned year, while the catch at 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 with 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 with 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.