ARMENIAN EXPORTS OF LIVE FISH NEARLY QUADRUPLE IN 2014
Kristine Aghalaryan
11:08, March 20, 2015
Armenia’s fish exports sharply rose in 2014.
The National Statistial Service reports that the country exported close
to 96,000 tons of live fish last year. Despite yearly increases, during
the previous four years the annual amount never exceeded 25,000 tons.
The four fold increase flies in the face of a recent statement by
Artur Atonyan, president of the country’s Fish Farmers’ Union, that
exports haven’t been increasing and that a decrease was expected in
the near future.
BAR GRAPH
The reason for the expected drop, according to Atonyan, was a plan
Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection to tighten controls of the
use of artesian water in the Ararat Valley where many fish farms
are located.
Apparently, such conservation efforts do not seem to have put a dent
in the fish farming business.
Exports of refrigerated fish have risen over the past five years to a
bit over 2,000 tons last year. Exports of frozen fish, on the other
hand, have decreased. Last year almost no frozen fish at all were
exported` 200 tons.
Refrigerated fish exports (tons)Frozen fish exports (tons)