A total of 140,000 tons of seafood worth $430 million were exported from Iran to 26 countries in the last Iranian year (March 2020-21), according to the head of Iran Fisheries Organization.
“More than 693,000 tons of seafood were harvested from Iran’s water bodies and around 529,000 tons were produced in fish farms across the country,” Nabiollah Khounmirzaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official estimates that this year 700,000 tons of seafood will be harvested from seas and 800,000 tons more will be produced in aqua farms.
A total of 146,000 tons of seafood worth $539 million were exported from Iran in the fiscal 2019-20.
Iran is a major seafood producer in the region with trout, caviar and shrimp being the main exported products of the fisheries sector.
Over the past few years, Iran has set up cages for fish farming in the sea as well as water bodies behind dams, and is expanding the business as part of its plans to increase seafood production.
Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province in southwest Iran accounts for 40% of Iran's seafood production.
The province has the capacity to produce 240,000 tons of seafood per year.
Middle East's biggest seafood production unit is operating in the industrial city of Shahr-e Kord.
Located 97 km southwest of the central Iranian province of Isfahan, Shahr-e Kord ranks first in terms of its salmon breeding capacity in Iran.
According to Isa Golshahi, an official with Iran Fisheries Organization, the country’s per capita seafood consumption reached 13.3 kilograms in the last Iranian year (March 2020-21), up 3.9% from 12.8 kilograms in the year before.
