Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

STATUS AND OUTLOOK OF AQUACULTURE CAREERS IN SAUDI ARABIA: HOW WE WORK IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Benjamin C. Young 1, 2* , Ali A. Shaikhi 1

 1  National Fisheries Development Program , Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture, Riyadh 11195, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

 2 Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund, Taipei 11047, Taiwan

*Corresponding author

 E-mail address: benjamin@nfdp.gov.sa

 



 Due to sustainable economic development and food security for Saudi Arabia, aquaculture is essential for the national development sectors. To support the national GDP (gross domestic product ) by creating job opportunities for aquaculture and Food security, the National Fisheries Development Program has been promoting to advocate for sustainable development and food security of national policies. However, the Saudi Arabian aquaculture industry has faced many problems related to the need for a broader range of aquaculture species, the absence of local hatchery facilities or inadequate production, diseases, and the lack of well-trained personnel. The National Fisheries Development Program have been designing programs for developing aquaculture. We are joining all major programs, such as policymaker assistance, aquaculture promotion, evaluation, farm management, applied research, farmer training, etc. We try to combine the resources of the private and public sectors to create job opportunities for all Saudi nationals and expatriates.