The United Arab Emirates, a net seafood importer, is expected to expand its aquaculture market by 4.7 percent over the next five years – driven largely by a growing population, increased economic growth, and demand for healthy fish and fish products, according to a new report.
A summary of the report by market research data firm ReportLinker identified fisheries and aquaculture as two major pieces of the puzzle in the U.A.E.’s drive towards achieving food security. The U.A.E.’s support of aquaculture, via increased investments in marine research and modern fish farms, is also a key part of the sector’s growth.
“With rapid growth and development, and the diverse population of the U.A.E., coupled with rising consumption of seafood is likely to be the major factor that is driving the fisheries and aquaculture sector,” the report said.
The report predicted expansion of aquaculture in the U.A.E. “in the near-future as people are becoming aware of the dual benefits of rearing fish, such as tilapia, in such facilities which will not only produce fish but also fertilize the irrigation water.”
Currently, the U.A.E. produces an estimated total of 70,000 metric tons (MT) of seafood. In June, U.A.E. Minister for Food Security Mariam Hareb Almheiri reaffirmed the Middle East country’s commitment in ensuring the expansion of aquaculture plays a pivotal role in national food security programs to meet the demand of the country’s increasing population, currently estimated at 9.8 million people.
Speaking during the launch of UAE’s Aquaculture Pulse 2020, a program outlining and evaluating investment opportunities in the local aquaculture sector, the minister reiterated the economic benefits accruing from investing in the aquaculture production for both the public and private sector in addition to the consequent realization of an enhanced “marine resources, ensuring their sustainability, and supporting efforts to providing sufficient, healthy, and safe food for everyone."
"The sector promises to be an important source of high-value protein as our population steadily grows, given that the UAE currently imports 70 percent of its fish annually,” the minister said, according to a report by the Emirates News Agency.
UAE government reports indicate the country’s seafood consumption has grown to more than 220,000 MT annually, with imports surpassing 70 percent – especially from countries such as Chile, Myanmar, and Taipei “which poses a serious challenge to the country’s food security when considering global security challenges.”
One of the challenges facing the Food Security Ministry, is the reality that “the national gap between production and demand is expanding.”
However, the huge seafood import bill is likely to reduce in the medium and long term as U.A.E. scales up marine and freshwater fish farming with substantial hatcheries to supply seed already operational and more modern aquafarms ploughing back their earnings into expanding their enterprises.
With an estimated production of 35 million fingerlings from both the existing aqua farms and specialized hatcheries, U.A.E. is projected to substantially increase the share of aquaculture in the country’s total seafood consumption in the medium-term. Currently, aquaculture provides an estimated 2 percent of the fish consumed in the UAE.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), U.A.E.’s total aquaculture production increased to 3,350 MT in 2018, up from 3,255 MT in 2017 and 2,664 MT in 2016.
“The U.A.E. has what it takes to become a regional hub for hi-tech aquaculture, having already established several leading facilities, such as the Sheikh Khalifa Marine Research Centre, which is currently under expansion," Almheiri said.
The center was established to “promote regional and global leadership, and future outlook of advanced research and development in the field of marine resources,” according to the Ministry of Food Security.
Despite the projected aquaculture market growth, the U.A.E. is expected to experience growth in fish imports up to 2025 “due to the increasing demand from consumers,” according to the ReportLinker report.
Photo courtesy of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment
