Kyrgyzstan Seeks to Increase Production and Export of Fish
On August 23, Bakyt Torobayev, Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of Kyrgyzstan, attended ceremonies to launch the construction of two fish processing plants in the country’s northern Chui region. The first plant, to be built in the village of Leninskoye at the cost of over $4.3 million, will have an annual capacity is up to 3,000 tons of processed fish products (mainly trout) and up to 8,000 kg of black sturgeon caviar. When operational, the second in the village of Ak-Jol, will create 45 new jobs and have an annual production capacity of 1,000 tons of chilled trout, 1,000 tons of frozen trout, 800 tons of smoked fish, and 400 tons of dried fish. Kyrgyzstan currently produces about 30,000 tons of fish annually, of which only 5,000 tons are exported. Citing the fact that the country had conditions to produce 105 thousand tons and export 50 thousand tons of fish, Torobayev recommended that emphasis be placed on the construction of processing enterprises. According to official statistics, in 2023, Kyrgyzstan produced 33,600 tons of fish and exported 5,556 tons of fish and fish products, mainly to Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Lithuania. Fish (mainly trout) are produced in Kyrgyzstan at artificial ponds and fishery farms at lakes Issyk-Kul and Son-Kul.
