TEHRAN – Iran is expected to become the world’s third-biggest sturgeon meat producer over the next four years, an official with Iran Fisheries Organization (IFO) said.

“According to the plans, we predict that Iran will also become the second or third biggest caviar producing country in the world over the next ten years,” IRNA quoted Naser Karami-Rad as saying on Saturday.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Iran ranked the world’s top producer of Beluga caviar in 2019; Beluga is the most valuable type of caviar in the world, the official said.

Based on official customs data, Iran exported 1.3 tons of caviar worth $539,000 in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22), registering a 50 percent rise in terms of value compared to the figure for the previous year’s same period.

According to Arezu Ghaniyoun, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Bureau of Customs Statistics and Information Processing, the Islamic Republic had exported 605 kilograms of caviar worth $350,000 during the previous year’s same six months.

EF/MA