Iran stands the first in terms of fishery and the volume of fishing in western waters of the Indian Ocean and it also stands the second in the entire ocean, an Iranian official says.
Head of the Iran Fisheries Organization Nabiollah Khoonmirzaei told IRNA on Sunday that the organization has attached importance to the offshore fishing in order to secure food security.According to the official, the total fishing in Iran stood at 514,000 tons in 2013, which increased to around 700,000 tons in 2020.The Islamic Republic has taken effective steps in a bid to increase investment in fishing industry, so the amount has doubled in recent years, Khoonmirzaei noted.The fishing industry has provided more than 140,000 people with job opportunities in Iran, he said, adding that these fishers are using over 11,000 fishing vessels.Thanks to efforts made by the authorities in recent years, the per capita consumption of aquatic products have experienced a hike and reached 13.5 kilograms per annum, he stated.Pointing to the high prices of fish and other aquatic foods in Iran, Khoonmirzaei said that the Fisheries Organization has put on agenda the production of Tilapia that provides low income people with the opportunity to consume aquatic foods as well.The total fishery production increased from 885,000 tons in 2013 to more than 1,222,000 tons in 2020. The production of shrimp and sturgeon have improved, respectively, four and 12 times respectively in the mentioned period.