Around 100,000 locally farmed fish were released into Bahrain’s waters yesterday as part of a strategic project to boost food security.
The fish weighing 15 tonnes, which included hammour, mullets and seabream, were cultivated at the National Aquaculture Centre in Ras Hayyan and released into the sea by Deputy Premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
The project follows His Majesty King Hamad’s directives to develop a national food security strategy.
“The government, under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has prepared a comprehensive food security strategy with investment in fish farming as one of its most important axes,” said Shaikh Khalid during the launch.
“It’s aimed at achieving sustainable food security.”
The initiative is under the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry’s Marine and Agriculture Resources Agency.
Shaikh Khalid urged the private sector to invest in the field while also calling on the ministry to launch innovative systems to improve production quality and quantity. He also directed the ministry to continue cultivating fish species that meet the needs and preferences of local consumers throughout the year.
Minister Essam Khalaf – who accompanied Shaikh Khalid on the tour – said the National Aquaculture Centre would soon launch the next stage of the fish farming project.
“The next phase aims to produce three million fingerlings during the current year. We have raised our production capacity from 59,000 fish in 2013 to 1.5m last year,” he said.
“More than 20,000 hammours were farmed for the first time this year, compared with a maximum of 1,500 during the previous years.
“The fingerlings that the centre raises and sells are characterised by their high quality, thanks to the pneumatic propulsion system for water. That is in addition to the semi-closed protocol to control the quantity of nutrients in fish ponds, which has led to the rapid growth of fingerlings in a period not exceeding 55 days.”
Mr Khalaf also revealed that the centre is working to diversify the types of fish produced to include Saafi (Rabbit Fish), Emperor Fish and Mullets.
The centre aims to boost its efficiency to keep pace with development by targeting to produce 20m locally farmed fingerlings by 2025.
Shaikh Khalid and Mr Khalaf were accompanied during the visit by Special Envoy for Climate Change and Supreme Council for Environment chief executive Dr Mohammed Bin Daina and other officials.
The GDN reported earlier this year that new initiatives to achieve food security in Bahrain include aqua-farming, animal and agriculture projects as well as increasing the production of poultry.
The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, is also investing in a food security investment company, officially launched by His Majesty King Hamad in September last year. In total, BD400m worth of projects are underway to establish hydroponic farms and 356 greenhouses – covering 260,000sqm of land – which will produce 3,600 tonnes of food annually.
reem@gdn.com.bh
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