Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran's fishery exports in the first five months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20-Aug. 22) reached 39,000 tons, Isa Golshahi, an official with Iran’s agriculture ministry, said.
Golshahi who heads the Quality Improvement, Processing, and Development of Iran's Fisheries Organization, said that the country exported $121 million worth of fishery products in the 5-month period, indicating a rise by 28 percent year-on-year, the Iranian agriculture ministry reported.
Iran’s canned tuna export r3ached 350 tons, worth $1.6 million in the same time span, he said adding that Iran is the largest tuna fish hunter in the western Indian Ocean.
The country catches 200,000 tons of tuna fish every year, the official added.
Golshahi further said that currently, 142 units of aquaculture and 140 canning facility are active in the country.
Iran’s yearly fishery output stands at 1.1 million tons, with 600,000 tons of the fishery catchments from seas and 500,000 tons of cultivation.
Golshahi said that Iran ranks first in the world in terms of trout cultivation with 160,000 tons of output per year.
The country exported $412 million worth of fishery products in the last fiscal year (ended March 20), he added.
The Islamic Republic plans to export $450-$500 million worth of fisheries in the current fiscal year.
Iran has the capacity to produce 1 million tons of fish in cages in the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, according to the country’s fishery officials.