The United Arab Emirates’ drive to reduce its seafood imports and ramp up domestic production has received a major boost with the opening of a new AED 200 million (USD 54.4 million, EUR 45 million) facility to process, store, and distribute a variety of fish-derived foods in the Middle East, developed by local holding firm International Holding Company (IHC).
The seafood facility, with capacity to process 40,000 metric tons (MT) and located at the Dubai Industrial City, will revamp the UAE’s food security, especially given its annual per capita consumption of 30 kilograms of seafood, far above the global average of 20.5 kilograms.
“Our new state-of-the-art facility supports our community of local farmers, suppliers, and consumers, and provides significant scope for future growth,” IHC Food CEO Mamoon Othman said.
The seafood processing plant, which was opened on 22 February, 2021, by Minister of State for Food and Water Security Mariam Almheiri, will be operated by IHC’s subsidiary – International Fish Farming Company (ASMAK). When open, it will be the largest facility of its kind in the Middle East.
ASMAK, a leading provider of fresh and frozen seafood across the Middle East, has the scope to expand annual processing capacity at the facility to more than 60,000 MT – less than the 270,000 MT seafood consumption demand in the UAE.
“IHC is increasing its investments in sectors of strategic importance to the UAE and we expect our future growth to be closely aligned with the economic ambitions of the country,” Othman said.
The location of ASMAK’s state-of-the-art processing and distribution facility, especially its proximity to Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport, eases access to major highways linking the UAE to the rest of the Middle East, according to Saud Abu Alshawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City.
Commencement of operations at the new seafood processing plant is expected to catalyze growth of UAE’s aquaculture sector, especially after environmental degradation and overfishing drove down wild-catch volumes to low levels, Almheiri said.
UAE’s Marine Environment Research Centre, in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Water Supply, is wooing more private sector participation in the country’s aquaculture space with enticing schemes such as provision of fingerlings and technical assistance.
The focus of UAE’s aquaculture is on the white spotted spinefoot, orange spotted spinefoot, large scale mullet, and sobaity sea beam species. Fingerlings of those species are produced at the MERC and released into the sea under an annual restocking scheme.
With a high tourist inflow, low income disparity among its population, and an increasing population preferring seafood consumption, UAE’s aquaculture and associated value-chains are expected to continue on a growth trajectory that could sustain the country as one of the Middle East’s biggest seafood exporters, according to Almheiri.
Photo courtesy of International Holding Company
