During the exhibition in Barcelona, Iranian shrimp industry expert Iranian Morteza Heraji said in an interview with UCN that although Iran has suffered economic sanctions from the United States and some Western countries, the development trend of the shrimp farming industry has not slowed down, thanks to China, Russia and Middle Eastern countries import demand.

"Last year, our white shrimp production reached 60,000 tons, and this year it is expected to be 90,000 tons. I can say that our products are internationally competitive. Last year we sold all shrimp products, 85% of which were exported." Heraji explain.

Since 1979, Iran has been subject to varying degrees of sanctions from Western countries, affecting all aspects of banking, financial systems, trade and investment. These sanctions are aimed at limiting government revenue. In 2019, former U.S. President Trump announced his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, raising economic sanctions to a new level. Despite this, Iran is still actively looking for new customers in overseas markets.

China is the largest market for Iranian white shrimp. According to data from the International Trade Center (ITC), China will import 10,976 tons of Iranian white shrimp in 2022. The main product is whole shrimp with shells and heads, a substantial increase of 83% over the previous year; the import value is about 53.9 million US dollars, an increase of 82% over the previous year. In addition, Iran also exports products such as headless shrimp and shelled shrimp to Russia and the Middle East.

Heraji said that while the supply of Iranian white shrimp is abundant, the sanctions have affected the import of some important raw materials, such as feed, seedling shrimp and high-quality fishmeal. "Iran has around 50 feed mills locally, but they are producing poor feed varieties, resulting in poor FCR (feed conversion ratio)."

Most of the Iranian shrimp farms are located near the Perrian Bay and the Sea of Oman in the south, and some are near the Caspian Sea, with a farming area of about 10,000 hectares. Among them, 70-80% of the farms are semi-intensive farms, and the seedling density is 25 shrimp seedlings per square meter. If you use an aerator, you can throw 40 shrimp seedlings per square meter. Some farmers have cultivation ponds, which can also increase the breeding density.

The Iranian government implements support policies for the shrimp farming industry, and provides government subsidies and preferential conditions to farmers. For example, the government provides low-priced land to some shrimp farming investors and subsidizes electricity charges. The electricity cost of shrimp farming is only 3% of that in Western countries. Farmers can also take advantage of loans and start-up capital provided by local banks, and the government is responsible for building infrastructure such as roads for heavy vehicles and drainage canals.

Heraji said that the conditions in Iran are very suitable for shrimp farming. If there were no sanctions, Iran could develop up to 200,000 hectares of shrimp ponds. "We can also import better raw materials, buy fishmeal, feed, shrimp and so on from all over the world. But because of the sanctions, we will have many restrictions."

In addition to shrimp farming, Iran has a freshwater trout and carp farming industry, and the country is the fifth largest producer of rainbow trout in the world.