According to the public relations office of Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), a socio-economic meeting about fisheries focusing on fish farming in cages and attended by the head, deputies and managers of IFSRI, deputies and executors of fish farming in cages of Iran Fisheries Organization, Head of Economic Affairs of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension, experts, trustees and representatives of the private sector, was held virtually.
In this meeting, Dr. Feyzbakhsh presented an analytical report on Aquatic Economy and Market Questionnaire and said: "Aquatic stocks are part of renewable natural resources that are sustainable and have a great impact on human food supply. However, the real average price of fish has fallen in recent years. "
He explained the economic issues in the field of aquaculture and fishing, and finally explained the objectives of preparing an analytical and research questionnaire.
Mr. Nayeri, CEO of Caspian Zhik Sanat, spoke about the opportunities and challenges of aquaculture from a socio-economic perspective. He said that the sustainability of natural resources depends on an effective relationship among the three areas of social, economic and environmental, and added that a balance must be struck between these three sectors.
After announcing the statistics of the number of employees in the world in fishing and aquaculture, he described the employment and income of this field and continued: “out of about 60 million people, one third is engaged in breeding activities and two thirds also work in the fishing sector. The statistics is changing in favor of the breeding sector. 14% of them are women.
Lack of infrastructure, hardware and software shortages were among the other important issues that Mr. Nayeri mentioned.
Mr. Yousefi, CEO of the largest cage fish breeding complex in the south of the country (Niksa), appreciating Dr. Bahmani for pursuing the issue of cage fish farming and aligning research institutes and southern centers for effective research in this field, said: It seems that in these meetings, the presence of a representative of the veterinary organization is also necessary to improve the work process.
"Fortunately, the position of sea bass fish in the market is booming," he said, noting that the cage fish farming industry could be a breakthrough in the fisheries sector. Therefore, the platform provided for the development and even the export of this fish has created a good opportunity that such meetings can clear the way for everyone.
Dr. Hosseinzadeh, Deputy Director of Extension and Transfer of Findings of the Fisheries Science Research Institute, said that although fisheries researchers have been able to achieve significant achievements so far, there are still challenges that those in charge can resolve with determination. He believes that a coherent plan in the socio-economic fields of the cage should be developed and in this direction the role of research and promotion in the field should be seen in a prominent way.
Mr. Izadi, from Fisheries Organization of Iran, after presenting a report on the challenges and the current situation in aquaculture production, said that one of the most important methods of aquaculture is fish farming in sea cages.
He said: "In this industry, so far we have had 480,000 tons of public requests to start activities and for 175,000 tons of fish, establishment licenses have been issued. Meanwhile, the amount of production in 2020 is less than 13 thousand tons. "
Technological needs, solutions to socio-economic challenges, and the importance of incentive policies to drive local communities toward sustainable aquaculture were other important points that Mr. Izadi described. He added: "Among the strategies for developing cage fish farming is to produce juvenile fish in the country, provide facilities, eliminate cumbersome laws, breeding and domesticate native species such as Fourfinger threadfin and Red mouth grouper and create a system for selling farmed fish." Dr. Taghavi suggested that the cultivation of seafood and oysters, along with fish farming in cages, to be on the agenda.
At the end, the participants gave their comments and suggestions.