While the population of the sturgeon fish which produce caviar is dangerously depleted, the elite hunger for the commodity known as black gold is growing.
And Iran, as the producer of the most expensive caviar in the world, wants to cash in.
Deputy head of Irans Fisheries Organization Hossein Abdolhay says the country plans to produce 10,000 metric tonnes of sturgeon meat and 100 tonnes of caviar a year.
Last year, Iran produced a fraction of these figures: 1,000 tonnes of sturgeon meat in addition to 1.5 tonnes of caviar, the official said. Iran foresees exporting 1.5-2.0 tonnes of caviar produced in its sturgeon farms this year.
Abdolhay said European countries, especially Spain and France, were the prime destinations of the Iranian caviar, with Russia set to join the league this year.
With an international ban in place since 2011, Iran and other countries around the Caspian Sea including Russia have to grow sturgeon fish in farms.
The official said each kilo of the farmed Iranian caviar sells for 1,700 euros in the market.
There are more than 40 farms on the Caspian coasts as well as in the Qom, Lorestan and Fars provinces which breed sturgeon varieties, he said.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"]
Iran is internationally credited with having the best regulation on fishing in the Caspian Sea.[/caption]The countrys biggest sturgeon farming plant is coming on stream in the Mazandaran province this year, with a capacity to produce 2,000 tonnes of meat and 30 tonnes of caviar, the official said.
In addition to caviar, the sturgeon meat is highly valued for its texture.
Harvesting caviar is an extraordinarily arduous task. A female sturgeon takes at least 15 years to lay eggs or the caviar which we know.
Iran is internationally credited with having a better regulation on fishing in the Caspian Sea where the best sturgeon varieties, including beluga, breed.
Last year, the country released 3.074 million sturgeon fingerlings from its hatcheries into the sea as part of its preservation plans.
By Press TV
