Number of Iran’s fish farming cages to see threefold rise by
year end: Official 

An official with Iran Fisheries Organization said the number
of cages used across the country to farm fish through cage culture method is
expected to rise threefold by the end of the current Iranian calendar year
(March 20, 2023). 

The number of fish farming cages in the sea will witness a
threefold rise by the year-end, Mehdi Shakouri said.  

“30 million pieces of baby fish will be imported this year
to be farmed in cages set up deep in waters in north and south of the country,”
he said.  

Shakouri further said that the country’s total fish
production through cage farming in the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian
Gulf and the Oman Sea in the south currently stands at 4,500 tons. 

He went on to add that Asian sea bass, Southern meagre and other
local species are mainly produced in the cages.  

Cage fish farming is a relatively new method in Iran,
whereby cages are placed in lakes, ponds, rivers or seas to breed fish until
they can be harvested. The practice, under which fishes are grown in mesh
enclosures, has expanded as farmers have found it to be profitable because of
the scope to grow a higher quantity of fishes in cages compared to ponds,
according to fisheries officials, farmers and researchers.