Iran

RAIS National Center
Iran Fisheries Organization (SHILAT)
Ministry of Jahad Agriculture
Aquaculture Department
No. 250, Fatemi Ave., Tehran, P.Code: 1418636331, I.R. Iran.
Tel: +98 21 66941366
Fax: +98 21-66941672

Name of the Focal Point
Mr. Mehdi Shakouri
Aquaculture Department.
Iran Fisheries Organization
No. 250, Fatemi Ave., Tehran, P.Code: 1418636331, I.R. Iran.
Tel: +98 21 66941366
Fax: +98 21-66941672
Email: mehdishakouri@yahoo.com

Location

The head quarter is based in Tehran. It is reachable by hiring a taxi from Imam Khomeini Intl. Airport. It takes one hour in rush hours.

Overview

The legal framework for fisheries and aquaculture activities in Iran is based on the provisions of the Law of Protection and Exploitation of Fisheries Resources of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1995 Law).     Under Article 3 of the 1995 Law, organizing all fisheries, including aquaculture activities are the responsibility of the Iranian Fisheries Company. The Establishment Act of Iranian Fisheries Organization in 2004 created a new organization, replacing the Iranian Fisheries Company with the Iranian Fisheries Organization (IFO) (acronym in Farsi is Shilat). The new organization is affiliated to the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture.  President of the organization is one of the deputy ministers.    The main responsibilities of IFO under the Establishment Act are to conserve and protect aquatic resources and to enforce the provisions of the 1995 Law, as well as any other rules which may be pertinent to the responsibilities of Shilat.  The organization has 7 branches in coastal provinces along the Caspian Sea (three provinces) in the north and Persian Gulf and Oman Sea (four provinces) in the south (see annex 1 for details).

      Major duties and activities in Aquaculture sub sector

  • Study on the country's potentials
  • Planning and preparation of national development program for exploitation of the resources
  • Extension of aquaculture activity round the country
  • Selection of candidate aquatics for farming
  • Improvement of farmers' knowledge and promotion of farming system
  • Issue licences for aquaculture farms
  • Production of fish fingerlings for stock enhancement purposes

Staff     
IFO has major staff strength with the qualification of 12 DVM and Ph.Ds, 161 M.Sc.  and 753 B.Sc. Almost 50 percent of these people are dealing with fishing and aquaculture activities as fisheries experts and the rest are in logistic and/ or administration sector.
Considerable numbers of staffs were returned to their previous duties in the Fisheries Co. of Iran as fishing, processing and export of fisheries products were part of their duties.
Facilities

  • Shilat has seven fish stock enhancement hatcheries in northern part for producing fish fingerlings, in particular Sturgeons (Acipencer Sp.) and Bony fishes.
  • Five other hatcheries in the central region and south produce carps and endemic fresh water species for culture based fisheries purposes. The hatcheries are named in the list of aquaculture centre of the homepage.  
  • Four training centres and demonstration shrimp farms are active in the field of marine shrimp culture.  They are:
    • Shahid Kiani, Khozestan Province, south west.
    • Delvar, Busher province, south
    • Kolahi, Hormozgan province, south
    • Goater, Sistan and Balochestan province, south east
    • Gomishan, Gorgan province, north

Shilat has a close collaboration with the Iranian Fisheries Research Institute (IFRO). IFRO used to be directly affiliated to Shilat some 5 years ago.