ArmInfo. The fish farms of Armenia use only 30% of their production capacities or 40% at best, Artur Atoyan, Head of the Union of Fish Breeders of Armenia, said at a press conference on Friday. By the preliminary data of the Union, this year the import of fish food to Armenia dropped by 50%, which is directly proportional to the decline in the fish output in the country. "Earlier the large farms had an opportunity to feed the fish thrice a day, but now they feed the fish only once a day.
Today the fish breeding sector is facing bankruptcy. We face the prospect of monopolization and the republic will eventually have 5-8 fish farms," said Atoyan. He added that the statistical growth in the fish output has nothing to do with the reality. Otherwise, one cannot explain the low share of fish products on the domestic market, the decline in the prime cost and the knockdown prices. He thinks that the structures elaborating and conducting a strategic policy for the fish farms do not provide proper support to the sector and actually destroy the small and medium-sized fish breeding entities.
Meanwhile, according to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in Jan-Sept 2015, the gross fish output in Armenia totaled 19.7 bln AMD, with a 26% year-over-year growth. Throughout 2014, the fish farms' output totaled 28.7 bln AMD, with a 24.6% year-over-year growth versus 30-31% annual growth in 2011-2013. In Q1 2015 alone, the gross fish output totaled 9.5 bln AMD, with a 23.1% year-over-year growth versus 18.6% y-o-y rise in Q1 2014 and 36.2% y-o-y rise in Q1 2013.
Atoyan disagrees with the official statistics, which, he thinks, does not reflect the real situation in the sector.