Islamic Republic of Iran produced 1,150,000 tons of various species of aquatic animals in the past year (ended March 20, 2018), showing a considerable 10 percent growth as compared to a year earlier, he maintained.

Speaking on the sidelines of 33rd Committee on Fisheries (COFI), affiliated to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), he said, “Iran has got the lion’s share of fisheries in the Sea of Oman and Persian Gulf.”

Given the above issue, Iran has stood from first to fifth ranks in recent years in the field of fisheries industry pertinent to farming caviar fish, raising shrimp and trout, he said, adding, “giant steps have recently been taken in the country in the field of maintaining rich sea fish reserves especially release of fingerlings and baby fish at sea, so that country per capita fish consumption has increased considerably.”

For his part, FAO director general pointed to the considerable growth of annual fish consumption in world countries and said, “statistics show that annual consumption of fish products has doubled since 1961 on average.”

COFI is one of the most important associations in FAO Council which was founded in 1965. This prestigious Committee is the sole international association which focuses on solving problems related to the fisheries and farming aquatic animals in international level.