Tbilisi: A civil committee held a detailed discussion on Friday to promote aquaculture in Georgia. The committee also discussed the agriculture department’s strategy for 2024 to 2028.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture with the involvement of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed the 2024-2028 strategy and action plan. They aim to promote projects for the sustainable development of Georgian aquaculture.
The documents mentioned were further introduced to the civil committee members, specialists in the field, representatives of associations, and farmers. On this occasion, Tengiz Nasaridze the Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture apprised the attendees about the ministry’s various policies especially those regarding aquaculture promotion.
The deputy minister spoke about the steps taken in recent years to develop aquaculture in the country and noted that due to its importance, an aquaculture development unit was created under the ministry’s provisions. Tengiz Nasaridze added “Georgia has a great potential for the development of aquaculture so our goal is to make the most of the available opportunities. The ministry has set specific plans for developing aquaculture in the country and increasing export opportunities. I think the developed strategy is a valuable document based on which the farmers employed in the field will be promoted, opportunities will increase and the right accents will also be determined.”
It is also worth mentioning that the 2024-2028 strategy for the sustainable development of Georgian aquaculture includes ten main tasks, including the inventory of natural fish resources and working aquaculture farms to determine the pool of prospective fish species and aquatic ecosystems, introduction of sustainable methods of aquaculture production and development of ecologically appropriate new directions.
Similarly it will also cover the training, retraining, and raising the qualifications of specialists in the field of aquaculture, development of necessary infrastructure, creation of new production systems and modernization of existing systems, improving the quality of produced fish products, and meeting safety requirements, Development of successful marketing approaches for the sale of aquaculture products produced in Georgia.
It should be noted that aquaculture development is a priority issue for the Ministry. Moreover in 2020 the law on aquaculture came into force in the country. In 2023, 8 locations were allocated in the coastal areas of Adjara, Samegrelo, and Guria to accommodate marine aquaculture farmers.
