Salmon farmed on a farm in the Dubai desert will appear in local stores as early as April 2019.
Starting in April 2019, salmon grown on a local fish farm will appear in restaurants and supermarkets in the United Arab Emirates.
A year and a half ago, a Dubai fish farm built in the Jebel Ali Free Economic Zone received more than 40 thousand salmon fry from natural incubators in Scotland and thousands of eggs from Iceland.
“We raised salmon in the desert, it's just unbelievable,” says Bader bin Mubarak, executive director of the salmon farm, in his office in Jebel Ali. “Not a single company in the world has tried this kind of land-based salmon farming in hot climates,” said Mubarak, who is also the executive director of Dubai Ship Building, a partner at Mubarak Marine and vice chairman of the Dubai Marine Industry Council.
According to Nigel Lewis, Technical Director of Fish Farm and a specialist in aquaculture and diversification of marine species, the delivery of salmon from Scotland to Dubai was the most difficult task. In November 2017, 40 thousand salmon fry, each smaller than the little finger, were placed in special tanks with oxygenated water, and traveled by truck to the nearest airport for seven hours, from where they were transported to a larger airport and then to Dubai.
Today, all salmon sold in supermarkets and restaurants in the UAE is imported from abroad, and in general, only about 8% of all fish sold in the UAE is harvested in local waters. Salmon is the second largest consumed fish in the UAE after sea bass, which is found in the waters of the Persian Gulf, which once again proves the validity of salmon farming under artificially created conditions.
According to forecasts, after signing in April 2019 an agreement with the Spinneys retail chain and restaurants in Dubai, the salmon farm plans to grow and supply a total of 10 to 15 tons of salmon per month.
