Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In the first quarter of 2025, 19,100 tonnes of fish were caught, representing a 106% increase compared to the same period last year.

At a briefing held at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AOKA), the head of the press service of the Uzbekbalyksanoat Association, Zilola Ruziyeva, presented information on the results of the fishing industry's development in the first quarter of 2025.

This year, a number of initiatives are planned at the national level for the comprehensive development of the fishing industry. During the first three months of this year, the following projects were implemented:

- To meet public demand for fish and fish products, as well as to build reserves, an incubation facility of LLC "BAQRA AQVA TECH" was launched in the Tuproqqal'a district of the Khorezm region, with a production capacity of 50 million larvae.

- To cultivate the produced fish larvae, 40 hectares of broodstock ponds were established across the country.

- Significant work was also carried out in implementing new projects within the fishing industry and creating new jobs. In particular, projects worth 7.4 billion soums were launched in the Andijan region, 6 billion soums in the Kashkadarya region, 2 billion soums in the Samarkand region, 200 million soums in Fergana, and 120 million soums in the Syrdarya region, leading to the creation of 50 new jobs.

- New fish farming projects were also launched in mountainous and foothill areas of the country, including in the Uchkurgan district of the Namangan region (total project capacity of 110 tonnes), the Bostanlyk district of the Tashkent region (200 tonnes), and Fergana (200 tonnes), focusing on the cultivation of cold-water fish species.

- To increase fish farming volumes using modern technologies while saving water and land resources, semi-intensive and intensive aquaculture methods were organized on an area of 10,000 hectares.

- To better utilize natural water bodies, about 60 hectares of cage systems were installed in reservoirs in the Surkhandarya, Tashkent, and Fergana regions.

- Additionally, to expand the capacity for year-round supply of fish and fish products, a processing plant with a capacity of 60 tonnes, operated by LLC "Fu Jia," was completed in the Yangiyul district of the Tashkent region.

- To strengthen the fish feed base, construction began on a feed plant operated by LLC "YOU KANG FISH" in the Khatirchi district of the Navoi region, with a production capacity of 5,000 tonnes.

- A project for the cultivation of chlorella, a beneficial algae for fish, was implemented in the Balykchy district of the Andijan region, creating 10 new jobs.

To date, Uzbekistan’s major fish farms have exported 53 tonnes of fish products worth US$700,000 to Russia, South Korea, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

Efforts are continually made to adopt the experience of developed countries such as Iran, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and South Korea.

In particular, in February of this year, a group of 13 people, including association employees and managers of local fish farms, participated in a trout farming training course in Turkey, and at the end of February, attended a seminar on occupational health and safety in aquaculture in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Thanks to these experiences and the adoption of modern technologies, training courses were organized with the participation of around 15 fishermen.

To provide the public with sea fish such as pollock and herring, Uzbekistan imported 520 tonnes of pollock from the Russian Federation in the first quarter of this year.

Furthermore, to promote the introduction of cage systems in natural water bodies and the popularization of intensive fish farming methods, 15 seminars and training sessions were organized.