Asmak to build region's largest fish hatchery at Umm Al Quwain

14 April 2001 | Gulf News, Abu Dhabi - Stanley Carvalho

The International Fish Farming Co (Asmak) has secured an offshore concession from Umm Al Quwain for fish farming by building the region's the largest commercial hatchery for finfish.

An agreement will be signed shortly with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, an Asmak official said. The hatchery is expected to produce over 25 million finfish at low cost and will constitute a strategic reservoir for Asmak, enhancing the production of its fish farming facilities of which the Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah facilities are the most prominent.

Asmak's project will be located near UAQ's marine research centre. Technical knowhow and expertise will be provided by Greek partner Nireus. "The UAQ hatchery will be the first of commercial size in the Middle East and a state-of-art facility adopting international standards. Initially, the hatchery will produce finfish species focussing on the local species, and later will produce shrimps and other species," he said.

Earlier, Asmak secured a long-term concession from Ras Al Khaimah with an offshore area of 3x1.5 kilometres near Al Mataf Island and a 2,000-square-metre land base at Al Rams.
Construction of the first cage unit with a capacity of 800 tonnes per year has been completed.

The Dh18-million Fujairah project comprises a 25-hectare offshore cage farm near Dibba and a 5,000-square-metre onshore support facility, plus a packaging unit set up with the Fujairah government. Production will be 2,000 tonnes annually.

"This emphasis on integration has taken on a regional dimension. Asmak has widened the scope of its operations to include the Gulf in an attempt to reach a higher level of economic integration and expand the circle of technology transfer among GCC countries," the official added.

The company, which is implementing the HACCP system at its Jebel Ali Free Zone processing plant, has been prominent in lobbying against the ban on fish exports to the EU, he said.

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