Development of fishing industry hinges on integration of technology — stakeholders

AMMAN — Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Daoudiyeh recently said that assistance must be provided to the fishing industry to overcome obstacles hindering its development and achieve food security in the Kingdom.

During a recent meeting with the agriculture minister, President of the Fish Producers and Breeders Association Mohammad Shaheen stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between the fishing industry and the Agriculture Ministry to achieve the interest of the national economy.

“The coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the need for a country to be able to meet the needs of its local market in the event of any sudden disruption to its supply chain,” he added.

According to figures provided by the association, fish consumption exceeded JD120 million in 2019, with local production “meeting a very small percentage of that”.

Saeb Halsa, former head of the fishing monitoring department at the Ministry of Agriculture and manager of a fish farm in the Jordan Valley told The Jordan Times that “the way to increase production is by providing farmers with modern technology, increasing the number of farms and their productivity, and working on developing special legislation to stimulate investment in the sector.”

Halsa noted that fish farms are a “profitable business since they can be established in any place with enough water, which in Jordan means anywhere in Ghor, Azraq, Wadi Mujib and most of the north”.

Amro Khalil, head of the fishing monitoring department, said that the ministry is “trying to attract big projects such as fish farms, which can potentially employ hundreds of Jordanians,” at the same time it is also “trying to help small, individual farmers increase their productivity”.

“We do not expect individual maritime fishers to produce commercially profitable amounts of fish, but providing them with the right technology to increase their productivity will have an impact on their family’s livelihood, which positively reflects on the Kingdom’s GDP,” he added.

Khalil noted that the biggest obstacle that the sector needs to overcome is “promoting Jordan as an attractive investment opportunity for fish-related projects, which is a tough job given that Jordan is known for its lack of water resources”.

 However, if provided with modern technology, the water problem is “easily overcome”, according to Khalil, who said that the “advantage of fish farms is that they do not need a natural water source”.