The newly-built Aquatic Fisheries and Research Centre in Ras Matbakh.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Fish Wealth Department, is preparing to open Aquatic Research Center at Ras Matbakh soon.
The planned research center annexed with hatcheries and laboratories is expected to begin providing fish seeds to private fish farming projects. The center will start delivering services to farms within next six months.
“The Aquatic Research Center will open very soon as now we are making preparations for its inauguration,” Mohammed Mahmoud Al Abdullah, Director of Aquatic Research Center told The Peninsula.
He said that the center has partnered with local and intentional companies to operate fish production part of the project.
Al Abdullah said that the fish seeds will be provided to private fish farming projects in a bid to support the private sector. “The fish seeds will also be released to the sea for stock enhancement of fish,” said Al Abdullah. He said that stock assessment of fish in sea is part of the research work of the Center.
“If any shortage in the stock of any types of fish is found in the assessment, we will produce that specific types of fish seeds and release them into the sea,” he added.
He said that the strategic reserve of fish in Qatari sea is safe. The fish production of Qatar by fishing boat is about 15,000 tonnes annually,” said Al Abdullah.
Mohammed Mahmoud Al Abdullah said that the Ministry of Municipality and Environment issued licence to a private company for fish farming project with the help of floating cages in sea to produce about 2,000 tonnes of fish per year.
“We have another project of farming prawns which is yet to be launched,” said Al Abdullah, adding that the project will cover 100 percent need of shrimp in local market. He said that more projects of fish farming will be launched gradually to meet the rising demand of local market. He added that the fish production in all over the world is depended in big way on aquaculture.
“About 70 percent of world production of fish comes from aquaculture. The fish farming projects aim at reducing pressure on fish stock caused by over-fishing due to high demand,” said Al Abdullah. The Aquatic Research Centre stretches over 101,000 sqm in Ras Matbakh comprising of a marine fish hatchery, a marine shrimp hatchery, scientific laboratories and administrative buildings.
It is expected that the production capacity of the fish hatchery unit will reach 2.4 million fish seeds through four seasons of hatchery per year.
The production capacity of the shrimp hatchery unit is expected to reach 2 million shrimp seeds through four hatchery seasons per year and the final production of shrimp is six tonnes per year per season.
