70 JUNE 2024 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG contributed 25,485 tons to Saudi Arabia’s total fish production in 2021 (FAO 2024). Saudi Arabian aquaculture is primarily dominated by the prominent National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) and several emerging companies such as Tabuk Fisheries Company, Aqua Bridge and Tharawat Seas (Figure 2). This dominance mirrors the structure of the aquaculture industries in most Gulf countries (Dickson 2022, Young and Shaikhi 2022). Although mariculture has significantly developed in Saudi Arabia since 2010, many marine finfish fingerling sources for Saudi Arabia’s aquaculture industries rely on imports from Bahrain, Turkey, and Mediterranean countries, limiting species diversity and product development (Young and Shaikhi, 2022). Since 2018, driven by market demand and environmental considerations, the fisheries authority has selected the snubnose pompano and sobaity seabream as target species for sustainable aquaculture development projects, despite the absence of commercial culture of these species in Saudi Arabia (Tesfamichael and Saeed 2016, Young et al. 2021b). Eventually, sobaity seabream reached commercial-scale production in 2020 and harvests were entirely farm-raised fish by 2022 (Young and Shaikhi 2023; Figures 3-6). Status of Sobaity Seabream Aquaculture Sobaity seabream, also known as silvery-black porgy or blue finned seabream, is a native species of the Arabian Gulf, Western Indian Ocean, and the coasts of India (Abu-Rezq et al. 2002, Torfi Mozanzadeh et al. 2017). Because of its adaptation to captivity, rapid growth, and high market value, sobaity seabream is one of the promising potential aquaculture species in the Arabian region (Dickson 2022, Young and Shaikhi 2022). The first reports on sobaity seabream spawning and larval rearing for aquaculture production date back to the early 1980s (Hussain et al. 1981). However, its first Saudi Arabia has a coastline of 7,572 km, with the Red Sea to the west and the Arabian Gulf to the east. Approximately 2,400 km of undeveloped coastline could be used for aquaculture development in this pollution-free coastal environment (Young and Shaikhi 2022). Moreover, the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf hold a wide array of local marine finfish species, such as snubnose pompano (Trachinotus blochii), sobaity seabream (Sparidentex hasta), and red mangrove snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus), which have high potential for aquaculture development and commercialization in the export market (Tesfamichael and Saeed 2016, Young et al. 2021b). Since 2018, under Vision 2030 of the national development plan to establish food security and sustainability strategies, the Saudi Arabian Fisheries Authority (Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture) has planned to increase aquaculture production from 77,000 to 600,000 t by 2030. Moreover, because of policy limitations and the natural environment, mariculture is more appropriate than freshwater aquaculture because freshwater resources are limited (Young et al. 2021a, Dickson 2022). Against this background, the Saudi Arabian fisheries authority has established the National Livestock and Fisheries Development Program for sustainability strategies (Figure 1). In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s aquaculture production was approximately 110,000 tons. Mariculture production (including marine shrimp and finfish) was recorded at 84,996 tons, which was an increase from 67,833 tons in 2018. Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) farming had accounted for >70 percent of the total mariculture production during the 2010’s, but this species accounted for only 55 percent in 2021. The major mariculture finfish species in Saudi Arabia’s aquaculture industries are the Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer), gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata), Sabaki tilapia (Oreochromis spilurus) and sobaity seabream, which Sobaity Seabream (Sparidentex hasta) Farming Practices in Saudi Arabia Benjamin C. Young and Ali AL Shaikhi FIGURE 1. The sobaity seabream promotion poster from the National Livestock and Fisheries Development Program (NLFDP). Source: Benjamin C. Young FIGURE 2. Location of primary aquaculture companies in Saudi Arabia. Source: Benjamin C. Young.
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