Bushehr Seafood Exports at 21,000 Tons Since March
EghtesadOnline: A total of 21,000 tons of seafood were exported from the southern Bushehr Province during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Dec. 21).
“Shrimps accounted for around 15,000 tons of the total volume and the remaining 6,000 tons were different kinds of fish,” Director General of Bushehr Veterinary Organization Morteza Bahrani was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that Austria, the UK, Italy, Belgium, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan and Lebanon were export destinations for Bushehr’s seafood over the nine months, Financial Tribune reported.
Bushehr is Iran’s shrimp production hub, accounting for around 60% of the country’s total output.
Earlier this month, Qasem Qaedi an official with the province’s governorate, said 14,000 tons of farmed shrimp worth more than $70 million have been exported from Bushehr since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2019).
A total of 21,767 tons of shrimp have been produced in Bushehr’s fish farms since the beginning of the current Iranian year, which shows a 5.36% decrease compared with the similar period of last year, IRNA reported.
This year’s harvest season for farmed shrimps has come to an end.
“The reasons for this decrease in production are the white spot disease that infected some of our aquatic farms, the increase in shrimp farming input prices and the fact that infrastructures under construction were not completed during the production season,” Soghra Ashraf, the deputy head of Bushehr Fisheries General Bureau, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that 90% of the shrimps produced in the province are exported to China, Russia and the littoral states of Persian Gulf.
Around 23,200 tons of farmed shrimp were produced in Bushehr Province during the last Iranian year (March 2018-19).
According to Director General of Bushehr’s Fisheries Organization Abbas Ali Zendehboudi, some 90% of the output are exported.
Apart from farmed shrimp, Bushehr produces eels, squid and cutlass fish, which are mainly exported to China, Vietnam, Thailand, the UAE, Oman, Russia and Malaysia.
Farmed shrimp accounts for 55% of the shrimp produced globally. Most shrimp aquaculture occurs in China, followed by Thailand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Ecuador and Bangladesh, and it has generated substantial income for these developing countries.