| Characteristics, structure and resources of the sector |
 | Summary |  |
Commercial mariculture is still in its infancy in the Kingdom of Bahrain but there are very good opportunities for development in the near future. Recognizing the importance of aquaculture development, the Government's General Directorate for the Protection of the Marine Resources, has established the National Mariculture Centre to undertake applied research in this field. The National Mariculture Centre began as a pilot project in 1979 in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The centre is located at Ras Hayan on the South-Eastern coast of Bahrain.
The National Mariculture Centre (NMC) has successfully achieved the mass propagation of seed from the following commercially important local species: rabbit fish (Siganus canaliculatus
), sobaity seabream (Sparus hasta
), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata
), mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus
), brown-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides
), streaked rabbit fish (Siganus javus
) and green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus
). The success has been such that the NMC has begun to supply marine finfish seed to other member countries of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The Kingdom of Bahrain is beginning to emerge as a potential leading marine finfish seed producer and exporter in the region.
Currently there are no commercial mariculture projects in operation in Bahrain, except for the applied research activities of NMC which includes studies in the areas of nutrition, reproduction, hatchery techniques, nursery and growout of the species indicated above. Major breakthroughs have been achieved in the growth trials on rabbit fish and sobaity bream utilizing a variety of different production systems. Growout trials on grouper and green tiger shrimp are also under implementation.
Given the state of freshwater resources in Bahrain, all efforts have been diverted towards marine species, land-based culture activities which, where they exist, are carried out in tanks.
Pilot-scale projects using cage production systems are oriented to promote this type of system. Bahrain is a small island nation with limited land resources. The expansion of extensive land-based developments would be at the expense of the marine environment, as a result, land-based shrimp culture, for example, is from a practical point of view not feasible. It is advantageous, however, for the country to promote private sector investments in intensive tank-based mariculture activities and open-water cage culture.
All research and production efforts are focused on the development and refinement of appropriate economically efficient technologies and the production of marine finfish juveniles both for sale and for release programmess as well as for limited use in land based grow-out tanks. |
| History and general overview | |
The Kingdom of Bahrain has good potential for fish farming when considering the advantages offered by the climate, location, coastal area, and market. Most types of aquaculture activities are feasible and a wide range of aquatic species could be cultured. Bahrain, by virtue of its location, possesses rich finfish and shellfish resources, some of these have already been identified as potentially suitable for aquaculture development by the National Mariculture Centre, which forms part of the Directorate of Marine Resources within the General Directorate for the Protection of Marine Resources. This in turn forms part of the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Bahrain suffers from a large deficit in its supply of fish and this deficit has increased countinuosly as the demand and per capita consumption of fish products has continued to increase over the last two decades. This is due primarly to the increased public awareness of the health benefits of fish consumption. The fisheries catch from the waters surrounding the Kingdom has little room for sustainable growth in order to meet this increased demand.
In the long-term, it is felt that investment in the development of an aquaculture sector will contribute to the food security and self-sufficiency of Bahrain and its ability to earn foreign exchange through the export of aquatic products. |
| Human resources | |
Currently, the Directorate of Marine Resources consists of the Director, 11 professional and technical staff and 9 support staff that are responsible for all mariculture activities undertaken by the National Mariculture Centre. The Director and other professional all have first or post graduate degrees. All technical staff are well educated and trained in mariculture sciences with many years of experience in this field. The technicians are school graduates with extensive training and experience. All are working in different areas of mariculture research, such as hatchery techniques, live food production, juvenile and grow-out production, nutrition and fish pathology.
There are at present, proposals to increase the staff in order to meet the requirements for the proposed expansion of research activities and the promotion of commercial mariculture projects in the Kingdom. |
| Farming systems distribution and characteristics | |
| At present, there is no commercial aquaculture being carried out in the Kingdom, the only available culture facilities and equipment belongs to the NMC. |
| Cultured species | |
The National Mariculture Centre has successfully achieved the mass propagation of seed of the following commercially important local species: rabbit fish (Safee) (Siganus canaliculatus
), sobaity bream (Sobaity) (Sparus hasta), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), mangrove snapper (Sheggar) (Lutjanus argentimaculatus), brown-spotted grouper (Hamoor) (Epinephelus coioides), streaked rabbit fish (Siganus javus) and green tiger shrimp (Rubian) (Penaeus semisulcatus).
Currently, production is taking place for the first four of the species listed above, gilthead seabream being the major contributor. Given the state of freshwater resources in Bahrain, all efforts are now being oriented towards marine species. |
| Practices/systems of culture | |
Pilot-scale projects using cage production systems are carried out in an effort to promote this type of aquaculture. Bahrain is a small island country which possesses limited land resources for development. Expansion of extensive land-based developments would be at the expense of the marine environment, as a result, land-based shrimp culture, for example, is from a practical point of view not feasible. It is advantageous, however, for the country to promote private sector investment in intensive tank-based mariculture activities and open water cage culture.
Research and production efforts are focused on the development and refinement of appropriate economically efficient technologies and the production of marine finfish juveniles both for sale and for restocking programmes as well as for limited use in land based grow-out tanks. | Production | |
The National Mariculture Center is currently the leading producer of juveniles in the region for a wide range of marine finfish species. In 2004 it produced some 370 000 sobaity bream (Sparidentex hasta
) fry and harvested 6.3 tonnes of commercial size sobaity bream.
The center's production capacity could be significantly increased if problems related to seawater quality, shortage of facilities, improvement of the organizational structure and shortage in manpower and resources are resolved.
The graph below shows total aquaculture production in Bahrain according to FAO statistics:
Reported aquaculture production in Bahrain (from 1950)
(FAO Fishery Statistic) |  | 
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|
|
(Source: FAO Fishery Statistics, Aquaculture production) |
| Market and trade | |
Bahrain's aquaculture industry is still in its infancy; currently the production harvested from the NMC is marketed locally. Significant numbers of sobaity bream fry have been exported to all the countries in the region over the last few years.
The per capita fish consumption in Bahrain was 17.6 kg in 1990, this figure declined to 16.7 kg in 2003. This decrease in the fish consumption was due to a 416 percent increase in fish exports from Bahrain and a 37 percent increase in the population over the fourteen year period (Radi et al
., 2003). |
| Contribution to the economy | |
| Aquaculture has good prospects for boosting the national economy of the Kingdom in the near future. |
| Promotion and management of the sector |
| The institutional framework | |
The Directorate of Marine Resources within the General Directorate for the Protection of Marine Resources which in turn forms part of the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife is a leading government agency responsible for the management and development of the aquaculture sector. The Directorate also liaises with other government bodies on issues relating to aquaculture development.
Within this Directorate there are a number of different sections and units with responsibility for aquaculture development and sustainable management issues. |
| The governing regulations | |
The government has recognized the importance of regulation to ensure the sustainable development of aquaculture, as an unregulated and uncontrolled aquaculture sector will lead to many environmental, economical and social problems. All the rules and regulations relating to aquaculture are set within one framework that is transparent, enforceable and interlinked with other laws and regulations applicable within the Kingdom as well as relevant international law.
The Royal Decree on Exploitation and Utilization of the Marine Resources, issued in 2002, has provisions for controlling the culture of organisms using aquaculture such as licensing and quality issues. According to the law, a company may not undertake any aquaculture activities without permission from the authorized government body (Directorate of Marine Resources). It also controls the collection of seed from the wild. Aquaculture laws and regulations in Bahrain are currently being revised and up-dated within a regional cooperation committee under the umbrella of the FAO Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI).
The government's strategy is designed to guide the sustainable growth and management of Bahrain's aquatic resources for the production of high quality fish and seafood, also for the generation of wealth and employment for the local population. The Aquaculture Development Strategy rests on two important aspects: - Enabling the aquaculture industry to expand and remain competitive; and
- Promoting new species development.
All strategy initiatives are being designed to promote sustainable development -"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Recognising the importance of environment, the Directorate of Marine Resources is committed to eco-friendly and environmentally sound aquaculture development. |
| Applied research, education and training | |
National Mariculture Centre under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Marine resources is the government body that conducts applied and scientific research in the field of aquaculture. Its main objectives are: - To create the scientific and technical base for the development of mariculture operations in Bahrain.
- To conduct appropriate scientific research projects and developmental programmes on the mariculture of living marine resources.
- To develop suitable culture systems for the environmental conditions found in Bahrain.
- To assist and encourage private sector investment in commercial fish farming and similar activities in the country.
- To mass produce seed of suitable and commercially important species for the fish farming sector.
- To produce market size fish in suitable culture systems for the local and international markets.
- To train national staff in aquaculture technology.
- To assist stock enhancement programmess through the mass production of seeds, fry and fingerlings to protect the local endangered marine resources from extinction.
The Bahrain Centre for Scientific Research and the Biology Department of the University of Bahrain also conduct related academic oriented research in this field. Currently, only one private company has a technical cooperation agreement with the Directorate of Marine Resources aimed at developing mariculture activities.
The University of Bahrain offers a BSc. degree course in marine science within the Biological Sciences Department. |
| Trends, issues and development |
The Directorate of Marine Resources is in the process of preparing a master plan for future development of the aquaculture sector that will provide strategies for a controlled development of the sector. The NMC will be expanded and equipped with all necessary equipment and culture facilities to conduct the necessary research.
This master plan will contain different sections relating to issues such as legislation and the integration of the approval process, environmental monitoring, fish disease control, sustainable management and development. This master plan will also include the nature of involvement of the different government authorities as well as the private sector in the management process of this sector.
More research in different fields of aquaculture is needed for improved future management of this growing sector. The main areas of research that could be focused on in future are:- Identification of the most suitable local and exotic species for culture.
- Environment monitoring programmess.
- Fish health and disease control.
- Enhancement of the legal and administrative framework.
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| Bibliography | |
Abdulredha J. Shams and Adly A. Al-Ansari. 2004
. Update of National Mariculture Sector Review for the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Presented in the First Meeting of RECOFI-Working Group on Aquaculture, WGA/NASA/04-04/ at Manama, Bahrain, pp. 5 FAO. 2004
. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. Radhi, A., Al-Saffar, N., Mirza, F., Abdulla, A., Hermis, N., Saleh, S. 2003
. Annual Statistics Report - General Directorate for the Protection of Marine Resources, Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife.
Technical Circular No.89, pp.84. | Related links | |
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