BANDAR ABBAS, Hormozgan Province Villages situated on the eastern shores of Hormozgan Province bordering the Persian Gulf meet a large part of the country's protein needs through its artificially raised shrimps and facilities for shrimp reproduction.
In the past decade no one expected the salty, unyielding coastal areas of Minab and Jask islands in Hormozgan Province to be transformed into shrimp culture bases.
Mohammad Qassemi, a shrimp production enthusiast in the province, told IRNA that a large portion of coastal land in Minab has been allocated for the purpose, and that more banking facilities granted to each applicant will further raise the number of those interested in shrimp production.
Shrimps are a vital source of export hard currency earnings, as well as a good source of protein.
Another shrimp breeder, Hossein Ranjbar, said that the business of raising shrimps artificially in the province has the potential of creating jobs and raising domestic income far more than what agricultural products could bring.
Officials of the Hormozgan Fishery Organization also believe that if careful attention is paid to the industry, earnings could outweigh those from oil exports as shrimps are comparatively more expensive in value.
The organization's Managing Director, Alireza Mahdavi, said the development of the shrimp industry in the province in recent years has contributed greatly to the increased harvest.
He said the harvesting of shrimps from Persian Gulf waters could damage its aquatic resources and, therefore, the industry relocated to more favorable areas in the province since nine years ago.
Mahdavi further added that within the short period of time many areas not ideally suitable for agricultural production have been turned into highly productive centers for shrimp culture.
He said currently 2,500 hectares of coastal land of the province have been transferred to interested applicants, adding that each hectare now devoted to shrimp production has an average yield of 1.2 tons of shrimp.
He further remarked that Rls.1 billion is needed to convert each pond into a shrimp farm, 20 percent of which is paid by the applicant and the remainder through the banking institution.
Mahdavi also said that Rls.30 billion in credit was paid through the banking system last year to 30 research groups working on various shrimp culture projects.
He said that given the amount of investment made in the field, cultured shrimps produced by the province will increase from the present 200 tons to 6,500 tons per year by the end of the Third Five-Year Development Plan (2000-2005).
Hormozgan is currently the only place where larvae-producing shrimps can be found, adding that 74 percent of the country's need for shrimp larva is being supplied by ponds in the province.
He said over 30,000 pieces of larvae-producing shrimps were harvested by 30 vessels owned by the fishermen's cooperative of Minab and Jask, 2,857 pieces more than that harvested last year.
After producing the required amount of larva, mother shrimps are released into the sea along with the larva which mature after a period of three to four months.
He said that currently nine clinics for shrimp culture are operating in the province, each with a maximum production capacity of 180 million pieces of larva.
This year, he added, approximately 476 million larva have been produced in the clinics, thanks to the policies of experts. The figure shows a growth of 93 percent over that of the past year.
Mahdavi said that some clinics have a work force of 800 who are active in the business.
He predicted a total of 600 million tons of cultured shrimps will be harvested from the province's 163 hectares of ponds this Iranian year (ending March 20, 2001), a remarkable figure compared to the annual shrimp catch from regional waters which is only 1,500 tons annually.
(IRNA)