1. Wednesday, January 1, 2014 www.thenational.ae
The National14
focus
Fish farming
Caviar,atraditionalsymbolofluxury and wealth, is labour-intensive to produce and increasingly rare as the sturgeon fish from which it is
harvested becomes more vulnerable. An operation in Abu Dhabi is hoping to offer the species a lifeline. HarethAlBustanireports
Justtheplaceforacaviarculture
Thinkofcaviaranditisunlikelythat
Abu Dhabi would come to mind as
a source of the highly sought-after
fish eggs.
Moves have begun to change that
with an indoor Caspian caviar farm
in the capital putting all of its ef-
fort into keeping the endangered
Siberiansturgeonaliveandflipping
– with a bold aim of eventually rein-
troducing it to the wild.
At the same time the farm is work-
ingononedaybeingthelargestcav-
iar producer in the world.
Last month, as the country was ap-
plauding Dubai’s Expo 2020 win,
Emirates Aqua Technologies’ Cav-
iar Factory was celebrating its first
successful batch of Emirati stur-
geoneggstobebredandhatchedin
the UAE.
“We have named them internally
as Expo 2020. They will be ready to
give caviar before Expo 2020 but we
havecalledthemthatbecausesome
of them will give caviar up until that
year,” says Ahmed Al Dhaheri, 44,
theco-founderandmanagingdirec-
tor at Emirates Aquatech.
The hatching was symbolic of the
farm’s desire to promote a sustain-
able business model that is based
onbreedingitsownsturgeonrather
than catching them wild or hatch-
ing eggs that have been fertilised
elsewhere and imported.
“Now we have a fresh batch of
hatchedeggsthatisEmirati100per
cent,” Mr Al Dhaheri says.
“Some think this would only be
suitable in Siberia, the Caspian Sea
and that part of the world, but with
the technology and the capabilities
anything can be done.
“Alhamdulillah, we managed to
get those with the help of the right
people and technology.”
He says the 56,000-square-metre
farm will eventually produce 35
tonnes of caviar and 700 tonnes of
sturgeon meat a year.
“But this project is not merely
aboutproducingcaviarandmaking
money,” Mr Al Dhaheri says.
“The other aspect of the project is
the environment; the saving of the
species. We want to make a wider
range of products available in an
environment where supply and de-
mand can be controlled.
“There are two aspects to the busi-
ness. One is the production and the
economical side of it; the capacity
and the markets and where to sell.
The other side is the fish itself and
how it’s grown – who is this fish and
why is it so special?”
The Siberian sturgeon is listed as
a vulnerable species by the Inter-
national Union for Conservation of
Nature, the world’s largest and old-
est environmental organisation.
It is being overfished and many
of the Siberian sturgeon’s natural
breeding spots have been lost to
pollution, power plant develop-
ment and other industrial activity.
MrAlDhaherisaystheConvention
on International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (Cites) recognised this shortly
after he and his brother conceived
the idea of building a caviar farm in
2006.
It added impetus to their project
because it established that the spe-
cies needed to be protected.
“Caviar is still demanded around
theworldandifpeoplewerestillhar-
vesting from the wild this fish might
havebeengonebynow,”hesays.
To begin production, the private
joint stock company had to secure
licences from local and interna-
tional bodies, such as Cites, the EU
and food authorities in Abu Dhabi.
“We cannot sell caviar to anyone
without having the licence,” Mr Al
Dhaheri says.
“They want to know that you will
be growing this fish in a way that
will sustain production, make cav-
iar available to the world and save
fish from being extinct naturally.
“This is what we are doing here.
There are other farms with smaller
capacity, smaller numbers of fish,
but here we have 300,000 fish, and
the numbers are going to grow.”
Females can only have caviar ex-
tracted once in a lifetime as the pro-
cesskillsthefish.ButMrAlDhaheri
says none of the sturgeon goes to
waste.
The factory has spent the past few
years training staff on how to treat,
care for, feed and process the fish
forthecaviar,meat,skinandbones.
This was necessary to receive ac-
creditationandcertification.
Its first batch of pre-fertilised eggs
werehatchedjustovertwoyearsago.
It has since hatched three more, in-
cludingtheExpo2020batch.
“From an economical point of
view,thisistheworld’slargestfarm
like this in terms of the production
capacity,” Mr Al Dhaheri says.
“There are other plants that pro-
duce four or five or even eight
tonnes, but there’s no single fac-
tory or farm that can produce this
in such an environment.
“The sturgeon meat can go into
smokedfillet,orspicedfillets,fresh
cut – anything, depending on the
customers’ requirements.”
Under this model, the facility
would eventually have enough sur-
plus to release some sturgeon into
their natural habitat.
To produce sustainable levels of
sturgeon, whether for meat or cav-
iar, is no mean feat.
It takes about six years for fe-
males to produce caviar in the wild,
which, through controlled condi-
tions, Aquatech is able to reduce to
three or four.
“This depends on the environ-
ment, the different seasons, the
feed, the water temperature and
how you look after them,” Mr Al
Dhaheri says.
Thehatcheryandbasinsmaintain
optimal water temperature, food
levels and other important aspects
to speed maturity.
Mr Al Dhaheri says the eventual 35
tonnes of caviar will be enough to
meet 10 per cent of the world’s Cas-
pian caviar demand and a growing
appetite for the meat.
Adult sturgeon are large, weigh-
ing an average of 65 kilograms.
Females produce a large yield of
dark caviar and, according to Mr Al
Dhaheri, sturgeon meat is lean.
“This is where the environmental
aspect of the project comes in. The
skin can be produced in very differ-
ent varieties of leather goods and
the bones, the head, the tail can
go into by-products as well,” Mr Al
Dhaheri says.
“It is not like the fish is killed and
it goes into the garbage.
“The water that the fish swim in
needs to be discharged from time
to time because it’s full of natural
nutrients. It is helpful for irriga-
tion.”
Mr Al Dhaheri shows off a leather
strap made of sturgeon skin. “The
skin could go into different types of
products. This was made at a local
factory between Abu Dhabi and Al
Ain,” he says.
Even though breeding is a large
part of the business model, and
means the farm will not be a threat
tothespecies’existenceinthewild,
the company’s goal is not to run a
breeding programme. Aquatech is
a private company and the fish are
bred for their by-products.
“The sturgeon fish has been
around since prehistoric times.
When you see a fish that has been
around for millions of years, you
don’t want it to be gone because
people are taking advantage of
mother nature without giving any-
thing back,” Mr Al Dhaheri says.
“This is part of it – the social
awareness, the sustainability
awareness, the future of our gener-
ations to come. We have laid down
such things for them so they can
join in the future and we’re hoping
that other projects will come to Abu
Dhabi.”
ĝĝ halbustani@thenational.ae
Ahmed Al Dhaheri, the co-founder and managing director at Emirates Aquatech, stands by a tank full of sturgeon hatchlings that were bred in the UAE. Photos Ravindranath K / The National
Young sturgeon in a tank at the Emirates Aqua Technologies’ Caviar Factory in Abu Dhabi. The caviar farm covers 56,000 square metres and will one day produce 35 tonnes of fish eggs a year.
From an economical
point of view, this is
the world’s largest
farm
Ahmed Al Dhaheri, co-founder and
­managing director at Emirates Aquatech