Kazakhstan is home to a variety of commercially viable fish species, a large domestic market (1.83 million consumers in 2020), proximity to potentially lucrative export markets, and the resources necessary to expand the sector. The country has adopted a strategy to increase fish production by boosting fish farming and setting ambitious targets for aquaculture development by 2030. Domestic fish demand is expected to increase by 27 percent between 2018 and 2030. Yet Kazakhstan's current policy framework, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Program (NFDP), is mostly supply driven, with inadequate consideration for whether or how the intended production expansion can be accommodated. To align the NFDP and related policies with Kazakhstan's market growth goals, this report's recommendations include: developing domestic markets
promoting export markets
strengthening the regulatory framework
pursuing a value-oriented production strategy
adopting environmental best practices
promoting a positive image of Kazakhstan's fish through external public relations campaigns
and integrating Kazakhstan's aquaculture into a larger system of sustainable landscape practices.