27 November 2013
The largest sturgeon breeding farm of Caspian Sea will be established in Chapakroud Village of Jouybar in Mazandaran province.
Hassan Habibnejad, director general of the province's Fisheries Department said the farm, with a capacity of producing 7 tons of caviar and 250 tons of fish, will be built in an area of 5 hectares, ISNA reported.
He put the cost of the project at $27.07 million, adding that $11.67 million have been spent for the establishment of facilities and construction of the building.
Sturgeons are among the valuable species of Caspian Sea threatened by illegal fishing and habitat destruction.
Referring to the activities undertaken in Mazandaran province for breeding sturgeons, he said Iranian sturgeons are well known in the world and this should cause officials to develop the industry, especially in the northern province of the country.
Habibnejad said farming sturgeon to produce cultured caviar will help meet the domestic and export requirements, generate jobs and earn hard currency revenues for the country.
About 90 percent of the world's caviar are obtained from the Caspian Sea and Iran accounts for 45 percent of this figure.
Illegal fishing, smuggling and building dams and bridges as well as environmental pollutions are posing an existential threat to Iranian sturgeons, which have a precedence of 250 million years.
The largest sturgeon breeding farm of Caspian Sea will be established in Chapakroud Village of Jouybar in Mazandaran province.
Hassan Habibnejad, director general of the province's Fisheries Department said the farm, with a capacity of producing 7 tons of caviar and 250 tons of fish, will be built in an area of 5 hectares, ISNA reported.
He put the cost of the project at $27.07 million, adding that $11.67 million have been spent for the establishment of facilities and construction of the building.
Sturgeons are among the valuable species of Caspian Sea threatened by illegal fishing and habitat destruction.
Referring to the activities undertaken in Mazandaran province for breeding sturgeons, he said Iranian sturgeons are well known in the world and this should cause officials to develop the industry, especially in the northern province of the country.
Habibnejad said farming sturgeon to produce cultured caviar will help meet the domestic and export requirements, generate jobs and earn hard currency revenues for the country.
About 90 percent of the world's caviar are obtained from the Caspian Sea and Iran accounts for 45 percent of this figure.
Illegal fishing, smuggling and building dams and bridges as well as environmental pollutions are posing an existential threat to Iranian sturgeons, which have a precedence of 250 million years.
© Iran Daily 2013
