Dr. Pourkazemi at the government week news conference said: the rate of growth and resistance to diseases are two traits that we consider on the selective breeding of these fish. For this purpose, we have collected broodstock and 500,000 eyed eggs of Tatars race of carp fish from Hungary have been entered the country and cultivated in Anzali. He added: selective breeding of carp is carried out in Khuzestan and one billion Iranian toman worth of credit is considered for this purpose. Rainbow trout selective breeding is conducted experimentally and the second stage is being planned. Brazil has been involved in shrimp farming in eight countries and has taken steps to create a gene bank and selective breeding program for shrimp. He referred to the SPF rainbow trout project which is one of the most prominent projects of the institute and said that this project with the assistance of the Presidential Deputy for Science and Technology and Mazandaran Governorate at Tonekabon Center is ready to be opened and put into operation. More than 3 billion Iranian toman has been invested in this project. Dr. Pourkazemi added: this is the first semi-industrial pilot that is based on the principles of biological safety for rainbow trout in Tonekabon in which the base population have been chosen as a knowledge-based product with the approval of various centers of the Iran Veterinary Organization with the confirmation of disease-free, viral cultures and cell lines, identification and genetic analysis. The production of eyed eggs and juvenile fish will be done by the end of September. The necessary infrastructure has been prepared and now the western provinces of the country have announced the readiness of modeling. He also stated: there are about 200 research projects is in progress in the year 2018-2019, 22 of which are fisheries and aquaculture extension projects. The most important project is the cage fish farming project which is one of the priorities of the resistance economy. He described the implementation of this project in relation to ecological issues, preservation of species and economization of indigenous species. Now we have plans to rebuild the reserves of the two species of zander fish andSalmo trutta caspius in the Caspian Sea and the two species of sea bass and cobia in the sea in southern Iran in cooperation with the Iran Fisheries Organization and the private sector. According to Dr. Pourkazemi, there is a program for importing the juvenile sea bass and cobia from abroad for the process of selective breeding. Even in the research patrols, there is a plan to collect cobia broodstock. He also stated: in the past, we obtained the reproduction method of two indigenous species of Iran including Sobaity bream and Sparidae. 68,000 juvenile fish was produced that was granted to the private sector for fish farming.

Production of three thousand pairs of shrimp last year

The official at the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute said: we succeeded in producing of 3,000 pairs of genetically modified and disease free shrimp broodstock using genetics principles with the participation of a knowledge base company in 2016-2017 and 2018-2019, which accounts for 10% of the required broodstock by the aquaculture industry. He added: for the first time, we created the genealogical identities of these shrimp which was welcomed by the private sector. He pointed to the white spot disease monitoring software and said: in the long run, the goal of the institution is to provide 100% of the required broodstock for the shrimp industry by selective breeding programs and private sector participation.

The genetic reserves of the Iranian aquatic organisms are under continuous review

Monitoring of reserves, reservoir status in abundance, distribution and ecological data issues and issues related to pollution are from the most important actions of the institute. He added: there are 285 sampling stations that monitor aquatic organisms stocks at depths of 10-100 meters in the Oman Sea and 50 meters in the Persian Gulf. According to Dr. Porkazemi, studies will begin with the launch of the Gilan ship in the Caspian Sea from the second half of this year. He continued: these stations monitor the commercially important aquatic organisms of the Caspian Sea and the sea in the southern Iran by biometry and determining the age and sex of more than 3,200 species of fish and even these stations monitor the parameters of water, sediment, plankton and pollutants with more than 500 specimens and 1,700 parameters. In recent years, three new research floats have been added in Khuzestan and Bushehr which are equipped with laboratory and analyzers. The director of the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute said that now the production of Tilapia is carried out in the four non-coastal provinces of the country which do not have access to natural ecosystems and open water including Yazd, South Khorasan, Semnan and Qom. For each hectare of fish culture pond, 150 to 200 tons of tilapia is harvested. According to him, more than 16,000 tons of tilapia fillet were imported to the country each year, worth $ 40 million.

Production program of low-cost fish was developed for the family food basket

He pointed to a plan for the use of anchovy, sardines and lanternfish in the south and Kilka fish in the north of the country which have cheap products and said: we are trying to provide a variety of low-cost foods of this kind of fish for the family food basket. He continued: achieving to the biotechnology of zander fish culture, creating a gene bank of aquatic organisms, collaborating with the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute for the production of three vaccines against aquatic viral diseases and the production of crayfish in culture ponds in cooperation with the private sector are among other important tasks that are on the agenda of the institution. According to IRNA, the Iranian Fisheries Science and Research Institute with the age of more than 100 years has 11 research institutes and research centers, 600 staff and 236 academic staff that are active in the fields of research and technology, monitoring, aquatic reserves, fisheries and aquaculture extension and transfer of findings, management of genetic reserves, production of technological products and training. Majority of these research centers are located in the southern and northern coastline of the country and in the three non-coastal provinces of Yazd (for the production of tilapia), Yasuj (for selective breeding of rainbow trout) and Urmia (Artemia).