Evaluation and Interpretation of policies of Five -year developmental plans and Iran fisheries outlook

Having the Five Year Development Plans (FYDP) of the fisheries sector (Shilat) in mind, and based on the resources documentation and content analysis of two scenarios of the “continuation of the current trend” and the “optimal situation”, this research provides the future opportunities and threats and also suggestions towards improving the situation and relevant decision making. The assessment of production indices demonstrated that in each of the plans, except the third one, not a so-logical growth rate was envisioned for the fisheries development. Of 5% predicted growth in fisheries sector within 23 years, only 4.5%, or 90.3% of the goal, has been realized, which means the policies and programs have not been completely performed. Although possessing the world ranking of 21st in aquaculture and 32nd in fishing, potential and capacities in Iran indicate a far higher exploitation and utilization possibilities from the present resources, which require better policies and approaches as well as a large and targeted investment by the government.