Iran plans to launch center for conservation of aquatic
resources, marine life

A senior Iranian official said the country has plans
underway to launch a center on southern Island of Kish to preserve aquatic
marine resources in the paradise of the Persian Gulf.

In a Sunday meeting with Iran’s secretary of the Free Zones
High Council, head of Iran’s Fisheries Organization (IFO) Hossein Hosseini
emphasized the importance of protecting and preserving marine resources and
ecosystems.

The Iranian deputy minister of agriculture added that a
center will be launched in Kish Island with the aim of conserving and providing
lasting protection for marine resources therein.   

Hosseini further called on the Free Zones High Council to
help facilitate investment and develop fisheries activities in the Persian Gulf
tourist hub.

Human activities are jeopardizing marine life, habitats, and
ecosystems. These threats include overfishing or destructive fishing, coastal
development, pollution and runoff, and the introduction of non-native species.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian deputy minister pointed
to the existing potentials in the country’s Qeshm Island for the expansion of
coastal aquaculture and mariculture, describing the vast island as the showcase
of Iran’s fishery activities.

Measures should be taken to facilitate issuance of operating
licenses in the Iranian Islands of Kish and Qeshm, Hosseini stressed, adding
that the existing obstacles on the path of producers, operators, investors and
all those contributing to fishery industry should overcome. 

Over the past three years, the efforts of the Aquatics
Production and Trade Union of Iran, and the non-governmental sector have led to
the addition of markets in countries such as Oman and Malaysia to Iran's target
export markets in the field of the fishery.

Enjoying high quality, Iran’s fishery
products were sold easily in the export markets, and also some new export
destinations welcomed these products in the past three years; as new markets
including China, South Korea, and the Eurasian Union nations opened up for
Iranian fishery products.