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USAID Assists New Fish Hatchery in Zagatala

21 October 2010 11:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. In keeping with US. Agency for International Development (USAID) mission to assist the Azerbaijani people, more than 300 fish farmers in Balakan, Zagatala, Gakh, and Sheki regions will benefit from a new fish hatchery opened in Zagatala district on October 7. This new facility is supported by the USAID and will begin production in spring 2011. It will have the capacity to produce up to 1 million pond fish fingerlings in 2011 and 2 million annually thereafter.

â€œUSAID/Azerbaijan is very pleased to support the growth of the aquaculture sector in Azerbaijan. We believe that this new fish hatchery will help the entire sector to grow and to meet the demand for pond fish within the countryâ€, said Sheila Young, Director of the Economic Growth Office of USAID/Azerbaijan.

The aquaculture sector in Azerbaijan currently faces many barriers to growth. One of the biggest barriers is a lack of a local source to purchase fish fingerlings to restock ponds each spring. Fish farmers will now be able to purchase pond fish fingerlings from this facility every spring in order to grow them out in their own ponds and sell them in the fall. This will greatly improve the incomes of the many small fish farms located in the rural areas of northwestern Azerbaijan. The facility will only produce fingerlings for pond fish such as carp, not for other fish such as trout or sturgeon.

USAID has been working in Azerbaijan to deliver development assistance from the American people. The Private Sector Competitiveness Enhancement Project, which has been working since 2008, targeted six sectors, including aquaculture, for assistance to become more competitive. USAID plans to continue assistance in the aquaculture sector in the future through the recently announced Azerbaijan Competitiveness and Trade (ACT) project.

Since Azerbaijanâ€™s independence, USAID has provided over $300 million of financial assistance and technical expertise to bring positive and lasting change within the country’s institutions and the lives of its people. From the American people, USAID programs cooperate with ministries, governmental agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, and communities to help improve laws, promote human and political rights, engage citizens, expand jobs, increase incomes, and improve the health and quality of life of Azerbaijan’s people.