Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Fisheries Company recently hatched its first batch of native sobaity bream larvae – a breakthrough that could pave the way to diversifying the Middle East’s burgeoning aquaculture sector.

Besides operating the grow-out farm, Tabuk Fisheries Company production manager Petros Thomas has set up a land-based R&D facility where the company is developing broodstock of a variety of native and non-native species. At the end of February this year, his team reported a significant breakthrough in the R&D department, where the sobaity broodstock that had been transferred to the tank 18 months earlier spawned for the first time.

While it is still a big step from producing the first larvae to the successful commercial production of the species, these developments are undoubtedly a step forward for building a strong aquaculture industry in Saudi Arabia and NEOM that is based on local species and targets local and regional demand.

Read the full story at The Fish Site