By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: The annual fish production in Qatar is between 12,000 and 14,000 tonnes which meets some 80 percent of the local demand.
According to senior officials of the Fisheries Development Department, the remaining 20 percent demand is met through imports.
But these imports are of those fish species that are actually not found in the Qatari waters and they include salmon, a cold water fish known for high omega acid content. The peak fish production months here are April and May, said Mohamed Saeed Al Mohannadi, Director of Fisheries Department, in a press statement.
The statement was issued on the sidelines of a workshop here yesterday. The workshop aims at exchanging the experiences of the GCC states in implementing fisheries information systems.
The two-day event is being held by the Fisheries Resources Department of the Ministry of Environment. Opening the workshop, Dr Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani (pictured), Assistant Undersecretary for Agricultural Affairs, Fisheries and Livestock at the Ministry of Environment, said: “The objective of the workshop is to get acquainted with the latest developments in the field of fisheries and to seek ways and means of facilitating the exchange of experiences among our countries”.
This regional workshop is organized for an ongoing Project for the Sustainable Management of Fisheries Resources in Qatar.
The Database System is very important for taking decisions to protect fish stock in Qatar, where the programme takes random samples of Fishing boats and types of fish to select the quantity and kinds. The system has succeeded in selecting 90 percent of the actual fish resources in Qatar.
The project’s overall aim is to implement an ecosystem approach to fisheries and marine resources in Qatar by establishing an infrastructure for effective ecosystem-based fishery management in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Information Technology (IT) component of NFIS is the SamaqWeb database which was first introduced in 2012 and it has since been operating at full capacity. SamaqWeb regularly collects and analyses statistical information and data comprising several key variables essential for effective statistical monitoring of the Qatar fisheries.
“It is expected that by the end of our work we shall have reached several points of understanding and agreement for short- and medium-term follow-up actions,” Dr Sheikh Faleh said.
The Peninsula
