Economic and Social Evaluation of Fish Breeding in Cages in Mazandaran Province

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the economic and social development of fish cage culture in the southern Caspian Sea on the coast of Mazandaran province. The area with a coastline of 250 km from a depth of 20 to 100 m and 2027 km2 has the cage aquaculture capacity. The study of salmon trout Oncorhynchus mykiss growth based on the production of each cage in the southern Caspian Sea region in the second six months of the year based on the initial inputs (fish and food cost per kilogram) showed that salmon trout at primary weights (more than 35 g) although physiologically, it can be adapted to the Caspian Sea salty water, but due to the time limited it is necessary to introduce fish with weights over 200 g into the cages. Therefore, considering the potential of the aforementioned region in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea, at least 200 fish farming sites can be constructed with the establishment of 40 cages per site, producing 160,000 tons, and the creation of employment of 1,000 direct workers and 2000 indirect workers and 2000 billions income per year and an average net profit of 40% can be expected to be 800 billion rials, which, producing part of the country's protein requirement, will create jobs, prosperity, prosperity and prosperity of the region's economy.