Head of Fish Farming Section at Fish Affairs Department, Mohamad Mahmoud Al Abdullah, and Head of the Projects and Programmes Section at Food Security Department, Hamad Hadi Al Hajari, during a press conference. PIC: Abdul Basit Mohammad/ The Peninsula
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) has launched an initiative for farming of over 600 tonnes of tilapia fish in a year with the support of registered agricultural farms in Qatar.
The idea behind setting up fish farming project in free spaces of agricultural farms is to utilise nutrient rich water from fish farms for vegetable plants to produce high economic value organic produce.
The initiative aims at providing additional income to farmers and diversifying the production of fish which attaches great importance to ensure the food security in the country.
The initiative was announced in a press conference held at the headquarters of Fisheries and Agricultural Sector of MME yesterday.
“Under the initiative two licences will be issued to establish two projects for farming tilapia fish in registered agricultural farms with the capacity of about 310 tonnes of fish in a year from each project,” said Head of Fish Farming Section at Fish Affairs Department at MME, Mohamad Mahmoud Al Abdullah.
He said that the National Initiative for Farming Tilapia Fish will cover 25 percent share of imported tilapia fish in local market which is popular among many expatriate communities.
“Tilapia fish is one of the highest demand of fish in the country with high economic value. We import about 2,000 tonnes in a year. The initiative aims at increasing the revenue of agricultural farms and diversifying the production of fish,” said Al Abdullah. He said that according to a feasiblity study conducted by the Fish Affairs Department at the Ministry, farming of tilapia fish costs QR5 per kg and its value in the market is QR18.
Speaking to The Peninsula about selecting tilapia fish for farming in Qatar, Al Abdullah said that tilapia fish farming project targeted certain expatriate communities from the countries along the Mediterranean Sea or East Asia as they prefer this type of fish because it suits their taste.
For Qatari citizens, he said, that there are varieties of fish according to their tastes which are secured from Qatar’s sea water.
To a question about fish farming projects, Al Abdullah said: “Following the State’s strategy, three projects have been licensed for farming fish in sea water. One of them has been licensed recently. The second project is to farm prawn which is yet to start. The third project is to farm fish in fresh water.”
He said that the interested farms are invited to apply for establishing the project for farming tilapia fish. Qatar Development Bank (QDB) will contribute in funding the projects under certain rules and regulations. The Agricultural Sector at MME will provide technical support and necessary guidance to make the project a success,” said Al Abdullah.
Head of the Projects and Programmes Section at Food Security Department at MME, Hamad Hadi Al Hajari said that the initiative for farming tilapia fish in Qatar launched within Food Security Strategy of the country to support active fish farms.
“The Department will launch a number of projects to ensure food security in the country. An initiative for producing table eggs has already been launched. Nine projects for fattening sheep were also launched to increase self sufficiency of Qatar in producing meat,” said Al Hajari.
