Iran keen to cooperate with foreign experts
AQUACULTURE in Iran started with sturgeon breeding in 1922 and rainbow trout farming in 1959, writes Homayoun Hosseinzadeh Sahafi of the Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute in Tehran.
The initial efforts, in the 1970s, were directed towards the development of hatchery techniques for fingerling production of such valuable Caspian Sea species as sturgeon and rutilus (Rutilus frisi kutum).
This approach was also adopted for other indigenous species like rainbow trout and Chinese carp, the latter now the major species for freshwater aquaculture in Iran.
The contribution of aquaculture to fishery production has increased from 3,219 tonne in 1978 (one per cent of total fishery production) to 65,000 tonnes in 1996 (13 per cent of total fishery production). By 2023, that had risen to 325,000 tonnes.
Development of aquaculture has since been expanded to cover most of the 25 provinces in the country, with coastal aquaculture being introduced recently for the production of highly esteemed marine products.
In order to increase the shrimp population in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian aquaculture department started a joint project with the United Nations Development Programme in Hor- mozgan province. This established a pilot hatchery for shrimp production back in 1987, which resulted in the production of 13,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2013.
Warm water fish ponds are found all over the country, but the majority of them are located in Gilan and Mazandaran provinces in the north, and Khouzestan province in the south.
Cold water farms are distributed in the eight provinces of west Azerbaijan, Fars, Tehran, Lorestan Mazandaran, Zanjan, Kohkiloyeh-Boir Ahmad and Chaharmahal Bakhtiari. Trout production has increased from about 23,140 tonnes in 2003 and to 144,000 tonnes in 2013.
Fingerling production increased from 507 million in 2003 to 1,038.5 million. It seems that the pro- duction of aquaculture will reach to 400,000 tonnes in total this year, which marks the end of a five-year development plan in Iran.
In order to achieve sustainability in aquaculture and rural development, the government is focusing on infrastructure and training and techni- cal assistance. Iran is keen to cooperate with the countries and international and regional agencies that are experienced in this field.