At the inauguration ceremony of this project at the Cold Fish Research Center, Dr. Sorena Sattari accompanied by Dr. Kazem Khavazi, the deputy minister and the head of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, Dr. Mahmoud Bahmani, the director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute, and Ahmad Hossein Zadegan, the governor of Mazandaran, visited various parts of the Coldwater Fishes Research Center of Tonekabon including the site of the macro project of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rainbow trout production, the farming site for Salmo trutta caspius, the salon under construction for reproduction and production, the aeration tower, and ultimately the ozone room and oxygenator. Implementation of the national macro project of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rainbow trout production was carried out in collaboration with the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology of the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad and Mazandaran Governorate in the framework of the national macro project. The national macro project of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rainbow trout production has been implemented by the Coldwater Fishes Research Center of Tonekabon since September 2015, and is now in its first phase. With the inauguration of this national macro project for the first time in the country, the semi-industrial pilot model of rainbow trout reproduction and production has begun and the principles of environmental and biological safety have been fully respected. It is also possible to produce and process schools of high - health rainbow trout broodstock with genealogical identities. Genetic reserves of "eyed eggs" and "fertile juvenile rainbow trout" with high - health and genealogical identities are other achievements for the country through the implementation of this national macro project. During the visit by the Vice President of Science and Technology of the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Coldwater Fishes Research Center of Tonekabon in Khorramabad District, Tonekabon County, the director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute said:As a result of the implementation of the macro project of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rainbow trout production, Iran will not need to import rainbow trout eyed eggs and become an exporter. Mahmoud Bahmani, announcing that five million
dollars withdraw from the country annually for the impor of rainbow trout eyed eggs, added: As previously planned, we will not only be self-sufficient in this 6-year timeframe but we will also be able to export. The director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute also said that the amount of freshwater rainbow trout production in the world is one million tons and stated: Of this amount, 170,000 tons belong to Iran. According to the report, the center was established with the aim of increasing the productivity and sustainable development of the rainbow trout aquaculture industry, conservation of genetic resources and selective breeding activities for this species in the country as well as supporting this knowledge-based commodity in Tonekabon. According the director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute, in March of this year, 8,000 fertile juvenile rainbow trout with high-health and genealogical identities (with the weight range of 10 to 50 g) were transported from the Coldwater Fishes Research Center of Tonekabon to West Azerbaijan province. The center's achievements were also selected as the top achievements of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization last year. The Coldwater Fishes Research Center of Tonekabon began its research activities under the supervision of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute in September 2005 in Do Hezar near the Cheshmeh Kileh River, Tonekabon County. The center was built on a land of approximately 1.7 hectares with office buildings, laboratories (three laboratories for water chemistry, health and disease and genetics), a library, a guesthouse, a hall for reproduction and incubation and larval culture, 60 round pools (each 3 cubic meters) under the roof, 12 polyethylene pools (each 9 cubic meters) under the roof, water recirculating system equipped with ozone generator and dissolved oxygen injector machines, 4 water wells and a spring, 2 chillers and a generator room. The center has research groups in aquaculture, ecology, health and disease, genetics, nutrition and physiology. The purpose of this research center is to study the different issues of coldwater fish with the priority of Salmo trutta caspius and to date various research projects have been carried out or is in progress in this field.