Dubai, U.A.E.-based management services provider Aqua Bridge Group has been picked as the preferred developer of a major multi-species hatchery being built by the Maldives Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources, and Agriculture.
Maldives Minister for Fisheries Hussain Rasheed Hassan and Aqua Bridge CEO Mohammed Tabish signed an agreement on 27 October, 2022, for the “designing, building, financing, operating, maintaining, and transferring of the multi-species hatchery at the Gaafu Alifu administrative division in Maanaagalaa Island” according to a press statement by Aqua Bridge.
The hatchery will culture Maldives’ brown marbled grouper species, sea cucumber, and milkfish as baitfish for tuna fisheries, Aqua Bridge Group said.
Aqua Bridge said the project, which it described as “historic,” entails the development of a state-of-the-art hatchery system including multiple filtration systems to facilitate water reuse and ensure biosecurity to tightly control environmental conditions.
Effective control of the environmental culture conditions is “more important in a hatchery, resulting in a higher stocking density, higher productivity, and higher survival” Aqua Bridge said.
Project costs have not been disclosed, and a timeline for the development have not been confirmed, but completion of the multi-species hatchery is expected to substantially increase the supply of much-needed seed to support growth in Maldives’ aquaculture sector and reduce the country’s fish seed import bill, the Maldivian ministry said. Under the country’s 2019-2029 National Fisheries and Agricultural Policy, the Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture has prioritized establishing milkfish seed production facilities “to provide bait in sufficient quantities, in order to support the sustainable growth of the aquaculture sub-sector.”
The new project comes as the Maldives Marine Research Institute is expressing concerns about findings from various studies in the past few years that “are strongly suggestive of diminishing fish stocks, especially evident in the case of the commercially valuable reef fish species.”
The institute said expanding the Maldives’ aquaculture sector, especially with a focus on some of the country’s high-valued aquatic animals, “could be a means to reduce stress from fishery on their wild populations.”
There are already several aquaculture projects in the Maldives with the goal of augmenting seafood production – including the spawning trials for sea cucumber at the Maniyafushi Field Station on the island of Maniyafushi in South Malé administrative division, and the development of an aquaculture center “where practical aquaculture will be demonstrated, and the practical components of various aquaculture-related training programs will be carried out,” according to the Marine Research Institute.
The need to fast-track ongoing or new aquaculture projects in the Maldives has partly been triggered by the anticipated increase in demand for seafood on the back of steady growth in the country’s population. The population of the country rose to 533,942 in 2019, and is expected to grow an additional 23 percent by 2032, and residents of the island nation source 71 percent of their animal protein from the sea. The country’s thriving tourism sector attracted 1.5 million visitors in 2017, also increasing demand.
International organizations including the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are also supporting expansion of Maldives’ aquaculture projects.
The World Bank is providing USD 40 million (EUR 40 million) in financing to Maldives to promote innovation in the aquaculture sector through the country’s National Program for Innovation in Fisheries and Aquaculture Project. The project includes a competitive grant mechanism and related services, with a focus on aquaculture farm project proposals that have been approved by the country's government.
Separately, the World Bank is also providing USD 18 million (EUR 18 million) to support the Sustainable Fisheries Resources Development Project, an initiative that comes to an end in December 2022. The project, which began in April 2017, has been supporting Maldives “to improve management of fisheries at regional and national levels including support to establish mariculture in targeted atolls (administrative divisions) in the Maldives.”
The mariculture component of the project, the World Bank said, includes the development and demonstration of mariculture production and associated technology, promotion of mariculture out-grower schemes, and seafood growth clusters. It also supports the design, construction, and operation of a multispecies hatchery, and the scoping of long-term marine fisheries diversification studies.
Expanding the Maldives’ aquaculture sector is expected to increase the country’s fisheries stocks as well as contribute to the ongoing campaign to achieve food security, create jobs, and generate additional foreign exchange.
Photo courtesy of Aqua Bridge Group
