The Socioeconomic challenges of cage culture in the southern region of the Caspian Sea

Breeding and production of fish in sea cages is one of the most common methods of commercial production of aquatic animals in the world. It is possible to develop aquaculture in the Caspian Sea by fully respecting the biotic, abiotic, social, and economic conditions, as well as the environment, with regard to sustainable development. Breeding fish in cages is very important from an economic point of view, and determining the challenges and obstacles before investment in order to reduce the investment risk plays a fundamental role in it. The purpose of this article is to investigate the economic challenges of cage culture development on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea using a combination of SWOT and FAHP analysis and then determine strategic priorities based on the Quantitative Strategy Planning Matrix (QSPM). In order to meet the challenges and also formulate strategies, the SWOT analytical model was used, and the opinions of 30 fisheries experts were obtained through face-to-face interviews and completing questionnaires in 2020-2021. According to the final score obtained, opportunity factors got 2.89 points, and threat factors got 3.54 points. As a result, the threat points prevail over the opportunities, and it shows that the current situation of this activity requires strategies in the field of adopting solutions to reduce threats. According to the total scores of the obtained matrix, the score of external factors indicates the need to formulate a defensive strategy in order to reduce the minimum risk of investment. According to the SWOT analysis, the strategies with the highest score are "development of standards and criteria and locating suitable areas for cage fish breeding sites," "allocating low interest loans and encouraging investors in order to facilitate investment," and "sustainable development in order to prevent Changing the use of valuable agricultural land" and "attention to export, introduction, and cultivation of species with global marketability" were presented in order to solve the existing challenges and suggestions to make the fish farming industry in the Iranian regions of the Caspian Sea.