Al Mansouri’s fish farm in desert spells wonder Latifa Jaber

9 May 2010
GHARBIA — Bakhit bin Suqan Al Mansouri never imagined that all that was needed to turn his small fish farm into a lucrative project that could attract scores of tourists, was something as simple as the use of better methods
of irrigation.

Now, tourists flock to Gharbia to watch the Nilotic fisheries he raised in the heart of Empty Quarter desert — the project made headlines when major websites like Google Earth featured it. Al Mansouri is the first UAE citizen to establish a farm for Nilotic fishes — freshwater fish like Tilapia and Catfish — in Liwa.

Speaking about the evolution of the project, Al Mansouri said the idea struck him in 1995 while following his daily routine of taking care of his farm in Liwa.

“I observed that large quantities of fresh water are used daily in irrigation. My concern was how to make better use of the water. I knew that Egyptian farmers utilise water used in rice irrigation to raise fish. I then decided to use
water in basins of my farm to raise fish,” he explained.

He admitted that the idea was not commercially viable in the beginning but he was seeking to reduce production costs and make optimum use of water in his fish farm to raise fish for commercial purposes. Now, it produces free organic fertilisers which can increase the productivity of the farm.

“I started out with a small shoal of fish and to my surprise, they propagated in an amazing way, giving me a compelling catalyst to consider launching a large investment venture,” he said. “I imported large quantities of fishes from abroad and raised them in irrigation water ponds in addition to conducting hybrid operations and I succeeded to produce a new breed of Nilotic species which could survive in saline-water and have large size,” Al Mansouri said.

His success encouraged him to think of establishing large fisheries in the heart of the desert to produce large-sized fish. He said his fisheries produce 35 to 45 tonnes per annum and he aspires to boost the output to 110 tonnes a year of various species of Nilotic fishes. He added that he didn’t face any obstacles in marketing his produce to consumers or companies.

He said his reputation got a major boost globally when information about his farm was posted on Google Earth, which attracted many tourists to the farm. Some of them told him they had come a long way to watch how fish could be raised in the desert.

Motivated by the large influx of tourists, Al Mansouri has put in place a tour including an exciting experience of allowing tourists to practise fishing by themselves. Speaking from experience, Al Mansouri believes that fisheries are a lucrative venture and can, if managed well, recover their initial costs in three years. Raising Nilotic fish is a very lucrative industry and it also has substantial environmental benefits, he said.

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