According to the presidential statement issued last month to all ministries in the country to announce the list of priority commodities and inputs for imports, Dr. Khavazi, the head of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, was given the task of pursuing the matter at the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad. The coordination and decision - making meeting to determine the required inputs for import in the fisheries sector was held at
the session hall of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute with the participation of the managers of the Iran Fisheries Organization and the representatives from the Iran Veterinary Organization and the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization as well as the managers of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute on February 1, 2020. At the meeting, Dr. Mahmoud Bahmani pointed to seven priority issues in the field of fisheries and said:One of the most important requirements for import in the aquaculture sector is the rainbow trout eyed eggs which of course we have set up two centers in the north and west of the country to produce healthy eyed eggs derived from selective breeding of rainbow trout for this purpose. If funded, we hope to reduce much of this dependency in the next ten years. The director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute added:The discontinuation of the dependency on aquatic feed that reaches peak levels at the feeding larval stage requires funding to provide proprietary feed formulation with respect to domestic resources. Also, a resistance economy package for the use of fishery wastes and bycatch including lanternfishes should be provided for a four - year period to meet the domestic demand. According to the director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute, mechanization, which is a key strategy to increase productivity, is one of the other important issues and in this regard with the current conditions in the country we can utilize the internal capacities to mechanize aquaculture sites.Dr. Bahmani stated:farming indigenous fish species such as cobia and sobaity seabream instead of rainbow trout, seabass and seabream is a solution that can solve many problems in the cage fish farming industry. Even one of the affiliated research centers with the institute that is capable of pursuing this topic can be considered. The production of biological products, the production of disease free shrimp broodstock and the production of ornamental fish were other important topics that Dr. Bahmani noted.Mr. Mohebbi, the deputy director of capture fisheries and fishermen's affairs of the Iran Fisheries Organization, said that many
existing vessels need to be repaired. He added:Operators should be given confidence in using domestic products, especially floating vessels. Buyers should also be sure of the quality and timing of their delivery. The deputy director of capture fisheries and fishermen's affairs of the Iran Fisheries Organization mentioned that at present, due to the poor quality and delays in delivery of vessels and fishing nets,
consumers are turning to Chinese goods and preferring them. Therefore, for self – sustainability, issues like price and quality should also be considered.Dr. Golshahi, the general manager of quality improvement, processing and market development of aquatic products of the Iran Fisheries Organization, said: Although some imports such as eyed egg or juvenile fish are somewhat predictable and can be programmed to reduce much of this dependency, there is some equipment that fall under the general tariff such as cage equipment. While some may be produced domestically and do not need to be imported. The general manager of quality improvement, processing and market development of aquatic products of the Iran Fisheries Organization continued:Some factories may also need to import a device that does not have a defined tariff line to produce a custom product. Dr. Golshahi stated:There are even some cases that need to be imported in the event of further development. Even for ornamental fish we need to import some fish species and
export it to other countries after completing the export chain. Therefore, their import should not be banned.He emphasized: The existence of such problems in the business sector poses obstacles in setting priorities that need to be resolved.Dr. Safari, the head of the pharmaceutical factory monitoring group of the Iran Veterinary Organization, noted that a significant amount of medicines and vaccines needed for livestock and poultry are produced domestically. Hementioned: The best way to end dependency is to increase the quality of biological products that produced domestically. In this regard, since the Iran Veterinary Organization is responsible for the public health, it is more concerned with the prosperity of production and quality.Dr Nikoui, the general manager of the economic affairs Office of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, said:We need to measure different things in order to measure a product in terms of whether it can be produced domestically or needs to be imported. The general manager of the economic
affairs Office of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization continued:Issues such as economic viability, resource availability,
technical knowledge of its production in the country, the amount of working capital and the recognition of private companies and related executive units as well as existing barriers are factors that determine the priorities of domestic production or imports. According to Dr. Nikoui, once the headquarters is set up to prioritize the import of agricultural inputs, a specialized working group on fisheries and aquaculture has been set up and four steps are necessary for its capacity identification and planning.Dr. Mohseni, the deputy director of the International Sturgeon Research Institute, spoke about the programs and resources available for producing sturgeon fish meat and caviar and identified the main weakness of the caviar industry in the preparation of larval food.Mr. Ghorban Pour, the representative of the office of business regulations and standards of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, declared: The ministry is ready for any cooperation in this field with the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization as well as the affiliated institutes with the organization. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Eshaghi, the head of the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Dr.
Alipour, the general manager of the technology office of the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, the deputies and managers of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute and some managers of Iran Fisheries Organization.