In a move, the first of its kind, the Saudi Aquaculture Society (SAS) in cooperation with the National Aquaculture Group organized a visit to the closed systems’ facilities of the NAG, for a number of investors, those interested in the aquaculture sector, and some workers in the private sector and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The visit followed the workshop which had been organized by the SAS on November 17, 2014, at Crown Plaza Hotel, in Jeddah, in cooperation with the Dutch side and the Ministry of Agriculture, under the title "Opportunities and challenges for the cultivation of algae and the use of closed aquaculture systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
The bus allocated for the trip started off from the City of Jeddah on the morning of Tuesday, November 18th, 2014, heading towards the NAG headquarters in Lith.
The visitors were well- come by the specialists in the NAG and a visit was organized to the marine fish production line, which includes the hatchery facilities and fish broodstocks facilities operated by the closed system. The NAG specialists gave the visitors a detailed description about the broodstock rearing and care, and equipments used and methods of operating the facilities, as well as watching the modern methods of operation and the great technological developments achieved by the National Aquaculture Group in managing and operating its hatcheries and the latest equipments used.
By organizing this visit, the Saudi Aquaculture Society aims to provide the interested investors with an opportunity to know the culture technologies in the closed systems carried out in the facilities of the National Aquaculture Group, and to get acquainted with one of the pioneer national experiences in this area.
This step comes in line with the general trend towards introducing the closed systems in the aquaculture projects in the Kingdom, especially the inland projects, due to the considerable advantages provided by these systems in terms of economizing water consumption through the recycling process, in addition to other environmental, economic advantages.