Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's shrimp production has cut by 50 percent due to white spot syndrome.
Arsalan Qasemi, managing director of Iranian Sea Creatures Production and Export Union, said white spot syndrome is widespread in shrimp farms in southwestern Bushehr province, Mehr news agency reported on October 24.
We forecast that the disease has destructed 60 percent of shrimp production in the province, he said, predicting that the farmed shrimp output will not exceed 10,000 tons if the current Iranian fiscal year, which began on March 21.
Khuzestan and Chabahar - in southwestern and southeastern parts of the country - have also been affected by the disease, but not as harsh as Bushehr, he noted.
"Last year, farmed shrimp output amounted to 15,000 tons. Meanwhile, farmed and hunted shrimp output totaled around 23,000 tons. The figure is predicted to be around 17,000 tons."
White spot syndrome is a viral infection of shrimp. The disease is highly lethal and contagious, killing shrimps quickly.
Iran exported $10.9 million worth of shrimp in the first half of the current Iranian fiscal year, which began on March 21, a 123 percent rise year on year.
Hassan Salehi, the head of Iran's Fisheries Organization, said on October 11 that 2500 tons of shrimp were exported to 16 countries in the 6-month period, a 108 percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year.
Iranian shrimps were exported to Armenia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the US, Belgium, Thailand, Turkey, South Korea, Oman, Russia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Mexico, and Vietnam, he said.