Iran has world’s second largest caviar output: Fishery chief
Iran has become the second country in the world in terms of the amount of production for caviar, says the country’s fishery chief, as plans are in place to expand cultivation for sturgeon and other fishes that lay the precious egg.
Nabiollah Khunmirzaei, who leads Iran Fisheries Organization (IFO), said the country had increased its caviar production through aquaculture of sturgeon to compensate for years of ban on caviar hunting in the Caspian Sea.
Khunmirzaei said Iran is almost catching Armenia as the world’s second largest producer of sturgeon meat, according to remarks published on Wednesday in the local Iranian media.
“Since the ban came into force 10 years ago on hunting this (sturgeon) fish in the Caspian Sea, we moved shoulder to shoulder with other countries and even outpaced them” said the Iranian government official.
China is currently the largest producer of caviar eggs in the world with nearly 60 percent of the global supply of the product.
Speaking to the Iranian state TV, Khunmirzaei did not elaborate on detailed caviar and sturgeon meat output figures in Iran. However, recent government figures suggest that the country produced nearly six tons of eggs and around 3,000 tons of meat over the past calendar year ending March 19.
Aquaculture farms for caviar fishes have been set up in 22 out of 31 Iranian provinces as part of IFO’s plans to increase output and exports of caviar.
Authorities say flash floods that swept through parts of Iran in early 2019 caused a reduction in output for the precious granules.
However, they say expansion of aquaculture farms and setting up port terminals dedicated to exports of caviar products could help compensate for the losses.
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