‘How Compliant is Fish on the Market with Food Safety Standards?’ Says Pashinyan

While discussing the government's decision for fish farms to transition to a closed cycle, which will take effect in 2024, the Prime Minister stated that he does not agree with the concerns raised that fish farms will go bankrupt.

In this context, he emphasized food safety: “We need to ask ourselves, when the process of fish breeding occurs in these fish farms, how compliant is the product available on the market with food safety standards, and what impact does it have on the burden of our healthcare system?”

According to Pashinyan, we need to move away from being hostages to this situation. A decision was made a year and a half ago, and fish breeders have had time to make investments. “But who said that they should generate income by releasing questionable products into the market and then constantly blackmail, saying they will go bankrupt or take other actions? It’s your risk. I understand that the state needs to support the economy,” he noted.

He pointed out that no one has calculated how much the state spends on water, and how much fish is produced. “No one has made an assessment of the produced fish and the wasted water,” he added. According to him, it will take decades to restore the water balance.