TEHRAN- The director-general of fisheries department of Bushehr Province, in southwest Iran, announced that 23,608 tons of shrimp has been farmed in the province since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Ali Bazdar said that the output in the mentioned time span shows a 10-percent growth year on year.

The official put the annual farmed shrimp output of the province at 21,767 tons in the past Iranian year, and said Bushehr accounted for over 60 percent of the farmed shrimp output in the country.

According to Bazdar, 90 percent of the province’s farmed shrimp is exported to China, Russia, and Persian Gulf littoral states, which in addition to bringing foreign currency, it plays some important role in job creation and economic prosperity in the region.

In early September, Iran Fisheries Organization (IFO) Head Nabiollah Khoun-Mirzaei said that the country’s annual shrimp farming is anticipated to reach 52,000 tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

The official also said that 12,000 hectares of land have been used for shrimp farming in the current year.

Through the government’s supportive measures and creation of required infrastructures, the country’s fishery output has reached 1.282 million tons in the present year, which is a considerable figure, the IFO head further noted.

He went on to say that of the mentioned figure, 526,729 tons was related to aquafarming, and 755,728 tons was the fishing output.

Khoun-Mirzaei said the country’s fishery export stood at 146,000 tons worth $538.9 million in the past Iranian year, while the import was 29,000 tons valued at $98.9 million, so Iran’s fishery trade balance was $440 million in the previous year.

He further announced that 233,059 persons are currently working in the country’s fishery sector.

The official has previously said that Iran’s annual fishery production is anticipated to reach 1.5 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year.

He put the country’s fishery output at 1.28 million tons in the past year.

Khoun-Mirzaei said it is while the planned figure was 1.25 million tons, and underscored that this amount of output was achieved despite the sanctions and related difficulties in the previous year.

The official noted that the output, which was more than the projected amount, was achieved through the help of research sectors as well as the ground laid by the private sector.

Referring to the high quality of Iran’s fishery products, the head of IFO said that these products were sold easily in the export markets.

In mid-January, he had also said that new export destinations have welcomed Iran’s high-quality fishery products in the past Iranian calendar year.

“New markets including China, South Korea, and the Eurasian Union nations have opened up for Iranian fishery products in this year”, Khoun-Mirzaei said at the time.

“Based on the negotiations and agreements signed between Iran and China by the minister of agriculture, the Chinese fishery market has been opened to Iranian products. The Eurasian nations and South Korean markets have also welcomed Iranian fishery products and have the potential for exports,” the official explained.

According to the deputy head of Fishery Organization Hossein Ali Abdolhay, some 12 aquatic species are already bred in Iran and the figure is planned to reach 17 by the end of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (March 2021).

MA/MA