Leisure & Hospitality Neom aquaculture venture seeks fish self-sufficiency By Pramod Kumar February 7, 2024, 5:11 AM Unsplash.com Neom's aquaculture venture with Topian Aquaculture will include a hatchery that is expected to become the largest in the Mena region by the end of 2024 Saudi Arabia’s mega-project Neom has set up a joint aquaculture venture with Tabuk Fisheries Company of Riyadh to meet the kingdom’s goal of producing 600,000 tonnes of fish products annually by 2030. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in 2021 to set up Topian Aquaculture. The new venture will include a hatchery that is expected to become the largest in the Mena region by the end of 2024. It will have a planned capacity of 42 million fingerlings and marine-pen production facilities, with finfish production in the pens projected to reach 20 kilotonnes a year. Baiting the hook to develop Saudi’s aquaculture industry PIF unit buys $339m stake in Brazilian food processor The Arab world needs to ease global food trade barriers Topian, the Neom Food Company, is leading the venture, which aims to support food security and self-sufficiency. The project is part of the kingdom’s strategic plan to develop the fisheries sector, which aims to achieve food security and fish products self-sufficiency, said Ali Al-Shaikhi, director general of fisheries at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. Aquaculture is among the world’s fastest-growing food sectors, as global demand for seafood is predicted to grow by 14 percent by 2030, according to a McKinsey report. The joint venture will play a crucial role in mitigating the carbon footprint associated with seafood imports, in addition to protecting the Red Sea’s diverse fish species and bolstering local fish production.
