News & Views
New large trout farm is launched in Kazakhstan

A group of investors commissioned a new trout (Salmo trutta trutta) farm in the city of Esik, Almaty region of Kazhakstan, the country’s business union Atameken said. This farm, one of the first in the country for breeding trout, is designed to produce 120 tonnes per year.

Farm director, Marlen Tursynali, estimated its investment cost at 80 million tenges (US$180,000), adding that most allocated funds were reimbursed from the national budget.

“Such operation can be opened in all regions of the country. Now there is a state program – 25 per cent of the costs spent on this farm is returned through investment subsidies. This means that most of the expenses will be reimbursed,” he said.

The first batch of marketable fish is expected to hit the market in the second quarter of 2023.

ITursynali said two years ago, he launched the Balyk Mektebi platform, designed to educate businesspeople who wanted to establish fish farms about the peculiarities of this business. At the moment, more than 200 people have passed the Balyk Mektebi training programs. As a result, 30 graduates of the platform opened their fish farms in Almaty, Aktobe, East Kazakhstan, Turkestan, Zhambyl and Zhetysu regions.

Kazakhstan’s government has embarked on an ambitious fish farming development program, under which the country should see a nearly eightfold rise in production in the coming decade. However, the program has lacked developments so far.

Yerbol Yeseneev, a spokesperson for Atameken, expressed confidence that the country needs more fish farms like the one launched in the Almaty region.

“On average, only 50,000 to 55,000 tonnes of fish is produced in Kazakhstan per year – this is very little,” Yeseneev said. “At the same time, imports of the chilled and frozen fish amount to 40,000 tons worth $110 million. We can and should produce all this volume at home. After all, we have huge potential – the total area of the water surface for growing marketable fish and fish stock is more than 125,000 hectares.”