Doha: The Agricultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality has signed a new agreement with a local company to operate Aquatic Research Center at Ras Matbakh in a bid to enhance local seafood production and strengthen country's food security.

“The agreement aims at increasing the production of the Center by over 30 percent from two million to three million fingerlings and larvae of most popular local fish and prawns in a year,” Director of Fish Affairs Department, Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Dehaimi, told The Peninsula.

He said that fingerlings of five types of local fish including Al Safi, Al Sebaiti, Al Sha’m, Al Hamour and prawns will be produced in large quantity.

“The new agreement which came into effect from March 1, 2023 will be for three years,” said Al Dehaimi.

He said that a tender has been awarded to a local agricultural company Agrico, following a bidding process after the end of the previous agreement.

“The production is expected to increase about 30 percent from two million fish fingerlings and prawn larvae at present to three million under the new agreement in a year,” said Al Dehaimi. He said that Agrico, which is a leading company in this sector, will meet the target of the agreement successfully in enriching the strategic stock of fish in the sea by releasing baby fish into Qatari water and supplying fingerlings to local fish farms.

“Following the National Food Security Strategy, baby fish are being released in the sea and provided to local fish farms,” said Al Dehaimi.

He said that since the launch of Aquatic Research Center at Ras Matbakh in 2019 until 2022, over 6 million fingerlings of Al Sha’m and Al Hamour fish were released in the sea at several places.

“As many as 1.25 million fingerlings were provided to local fish farming projects like Samakna, a fish farming project in floating cages offshore in the northern part of the country,” said Al Dehaimi.

Aquatic Research Centre, run by the Ministry of Municipality in Ras Matbakh, Al Zakhira, is playing key role in the field of water research, developing the fisheries sector, providing technical support and contributing to achieving self-sufficiency, food security and the annual production capacity of marine resources.

It includes an administrative building, scientific and water laboratories, hatcheries, the part related to fish farming, nursery units and fish fattening units.

Qatar’s self-sufficiency in fish production was recorded at 77 percent. The target is to increase the production to 95 percent of country's total need. The first fish farming project is operating with a capacity of producing 2,000 tonnes of fish a year. Two more projects are in the pipeline. The total production of three projects will be 6,000 tonnes a year.

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