Aquaculture: Fish farms can halve imports

Bahrain could almost halve the amount of fish it needs to import annually if the private sector embraced the idea of fish farms, says an expert.

Overseas produce accounts for 40 per cent of the local market, according to National Pisciculture Centre head Dr Abdulredha Shams. But he says this could be drastically reduced if more fish farms were introduced.


"We are inviting private companies to contribute to this proposal," Dr Shams told the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

"If every private company established its own fish farm, imagine how much it could boost the economy and with it residents' consumption."

Dr Shams said imported fish was increasing rapidly every year and had now reached almost 4,000 tonnes.

He attributed this to the declining fish stocks, caused by land reclamation and over fishing as well as the increased number of fishing licences awarded.

According to latest Central Informatics Organisation figures, 4,373 metric tonnes of fish were imported in 2007 compared to a total of 4,289 in 2006 and 3,273 in 2005.

"Fish farms can contribute to food security and create job opportunities in the country," said Dr Shams. He added that it could also give more time to marine life to revive itself and grow.

"This is way it would indirectly benefit fishermen, who will witness an increase in fish stocks."

The National Pisciculture Centre is about to release its annual production of 200,000 fish.
Known as Ras Hayan Fish Farm, it focuses on breeding local fish in a bid to revive the Gulf's fish stocks.

Young hammour and subaity will be released into the sea in 20 different locations off the Bahrain coast over a three-week period.

They will be joined by young safi fish for the first time since the launch of the project 16 years ago. "Our centre is focused on boosting fish stocks by breeding local fish," said Dr Shams.

"We have a goal to add 100,000 fish each year to the current number of released fish."

The centre is also looking to improve production technologies and add new breeds of local fish to the production cycle.

Dr Shams earlier revealed that Bahrain's fish stocks had decreased so drastically that they could no longer support the country's fishing industry.

He claimed land reclamation was not the only reason for the massive decline and said over fishing was a major factor.

The expert said this was having a detrimental impact on Bahrain's fish stocks - particularly with fishermen catching half-grown fish in the process.

He warned fish stocks were only sufficient to support around 100 fishing dhows in Bahrain's waters where 700 were plying their trade.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest report on global fisheries and aquaculture with no new 2008 catch and production figures, as the agency continues to piece together 2007 data.

Nevertheless, FAO is sounding an alarm on gradual declines in wild catch fishing production and depletion of stocks, while being careful to note that growth in the global aquaculture industry is largely making up the difference and seems poised to overtake capture fishing as the world's leading source of seafood.

Efforts to reduce the overcapacity in fishing fleets, fed by generous subsidies from European and Asian nations, have failed, and progress toward reversing the depletion of the ocean's resources is too slow, the agency warns.

FAO is also warning governments to do more to understand the likely effects of climate change on fishing and how best to adapt to the challenge.

The most recent data suggest that the vast majority of the world's wild fish stocks either are being overexploited or have reached their maximum productive capacity as fishing fleets have expanded and moved into previously untapped regions of the seas. Twenty percent of fish stocks have room to grow, according to the latest available data.

"Overall, 80 percent of the world fish stocks for which assessment information is available are reported as fully exploited or overexploited and, thus, requiring effective and precautionary management," FAO says in its report.

The northeast Atlantic Ocean is among the regions suffering from the highest numbers of overexploited stocks, the report says. That area is home to a popular bluefin tuna fishery, where European fleets have been openly breaking their catch quotas for years.

The West Indian Ocean and Northwest Pacific fisheries also suffer from overfishing.

Trends in the data from 2005 to 2006 suggested that the condition of the world's wild fish stocks is worsening, and most observers widely expect 2007 and 2008 figures to show the same. But FAO officials in Rome say they are still in the process of simply gathering 2007 numbers and have yet to request catch figures for last year, a reflection of constraints on time and manpower at the fisheries and aquaculture department.

"You're talking about a huge amount of data," said FAO spokesman George Kourous. "Not all countries are in a position to report it in real time. Often, it gets reported in mixed formats or with different measures."

Still, China likely retains its top spot in wild-fish production, with 17 million metric tons during 2006. Peru and the United States round out the top three, at 7 million metric tons and 4.9 million metric tons, respectively. The northwest Pacific Ocean is the world's most productive fishery, supplying the world with 21.6 million metric tons in 2006.
Share on Google Plus

About media

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.

0 komentar :

Post a Comment