Iran, which boasts one of the fastest-growing aquaculture sectors in the Middle East, has suffered huge losses after recent floods destroyed several fish farms and related infrastructure – wiping out an estimated 7,800 metric tons (MT) of unharvested fish.
Iran was hit by heavy rainfall in the second half of July, causing rivers to overflow and causing floods that led to casualties and significant infrastructural damage, according to a report by relief agencies.
Iran Director General for Planning and the Budget Bureau of Iran Fisheries Organization Rajab-Ali Qorbanzadeh estimated the value of flood damage at IRR 7.34 trillion (USD 172 million, EUR 173 million), according to The Financial Tribune.
"The floods caused damage to aquafarms and infrastructure and we estimate that more than 7,800 tons of fish were lost in floods," Qorbanzadeh said. "Since cold-water fish farms are constructed on river banks to access sweet water, these farms, producing trout for the most part, bore the worst damage.”
Qorbanzadeh said nearly 80 percent of the fish farms destroyed by the floods were not insured.
Isfahan Province Director-General of Disaster Management Organization Mansour Shishehforoush said at least 10 fish-farming units were destroyed in the province at the height of the July floods. He said the floods caused an estimated IRR 1.2 trillion (USD 28.12 million, EUR 28.26 million) in damage in 18 counties in the province alone, with 4,000 hectares of farmlands, 50 hectares of gardens, 30 animal husbandry units affected.
The flooding disaster hit the Iranian fish farms just months after the Iran Fisheries Organization announced government plans to provide fishery enterprises with low-interest loans to revamp operations. The first IRR 1 trillion (USD 23.47 million, EUR 23.59 million) of the financing, with a 14 percent interest rate, was to be provided by Bank Keshavarzi, the Iran Times reported.
Iran’s aquaculture production grew from 27,000 MT of total production in 1990 to 320,200 MT in 2014, accounting for nearly 34 of the nation’s total seafood production, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
However, per-capita seafood consumption of seafood in Iran is low, standing at just 7 kilograms per year – far below the global average of 26 kilograms, according to Iran Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and Food Commission Head Arsalan Qasemi. Trout, caviar, and shrimp are the country’s main seafood exports.
Photo courtesy of Iran News Agency
