CAIRO: A marine fish farm in the middle of the desert? It's possible. Mahmoud Shokry Asfoor, an aquaculturalist at the Wadi Natroun fish farm, says it may even be the first desert marine fish farm in the world, though there's no hard evidence to support that claim. Either way, it's quite a venture. Wadi Holdings, a vast Lebanese agri-business operating in Egypt — which spans egg production to building trailers to haul its products — is always proud to talk about the origin of its subsidiary marine fish farm, situated in the middle of the desert, 120 kilometers inland from the Mediterranean coast in Behiera governorate. Wadi Holdings was digging for fresh underground water on a new 4,000 fedan — or 10,000 hectare — olive plantation for its olive oil division, when the company was “shocked” to strike saltwater instead. “The company couldn't use the water for any type of crops, and was confused as to what it should do,” Asfoor said in an interview on the premises of the fish farm. Unsure as how to proceed, Wadi Holdings decided to seek advice from Aquaculture Consultant Office in Cairo — Asfoor's employer. Fearing that the land would be unsalvageable, Wadi Holdings was alleviated to hear that Asfoor's company hailed the discovery as a “miracle and a gift from God,” Asfoor recalled. Asfoor's company, which runs the whole operation on behalf of the Wadi group on a consultancy basis, recommended that the underground saltwater be exploited. As it turned out, the level of salinity was 26 ppt, which is comparable to that of the Mediterranean Sea at 36 ppt, and thus, ideal for culturing marine specimens. Wadi Holdings was initially taken off guard with this proposal, Asfoor explained, but after his company made a persuasive case, the Lebanese firm was ready to experiment and enter a new domain of agri-business. Under the guidance of Asfoor and his team, Wadi's saltwater fish farm, Rule for Land Reclamation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wadi Holdings, sprang to life in March 2008. After experimenting with culturing Tilapia, Shrimp, Seabass and Seabream, the company concluded that business-wise, the best species to produce would be Seabass, which was first sold on the Egyptian market only two months ago. For the first season, the company anticipates supplying 12 tons of fish to the market, followed by 30 tons and 40 tons in the second and third seasons. Going international Wadi Holdings plans to extend its reach beyond the Egyptian border, eager to serve hungry European consumers with euros to spend. In Egypt, a kilo of Seabass fetches LE 55, leaving a meager profit of only LE 20, while in Europe that same kilo would reap in €12-14, increasing Wadi's earnings by a handsome 60 percent. Currently, Egyptian fish producers face a ban on exporting, but following a visit from European Union delegates to certify the quality of locally farm raised fish, negotiations are now underway, which will permit Egyptian producers to compete with their foreign counterparts, according to Asfoor. Asfoor and Wadi anticipate seeing their first shipment of fish penetrate European markets by the end of 2011. In Europe, he said, “demand is huge, and there is no supply of Seabass weighing a kilo or more.” Most Seabass in Europe weigh a little more than a third of a kilo once it reaches the market, Asfoor said. What's more, he and his team at the fish farm say it is not uncommon for some of their fish, which Asfoor calls his “babies,” to weigh up to a whopping 2.5 kilos. Asfoor also said that Wadi's farm is able to maintain warm waters throughout the year, at 19-27° Celsius, versus fish farms in Southern Europe, where Seabass is traditionally produced, which see water temperatures drop as low as 13° Celsius in the winter. Water temperature is critical when raising fish: “When the water temperature is high, fish want to eat more,” which allows the fish to be cultured faster, Asfoor stated. In comparison to European producers, his fish can weigh up to 1 kilo in a span of two years, whereas it takes producers in Southern Europe an average of three years to reach the same weight. Due to the shorter time span, Wadi Holding is able to deliver their product to the market faster and weighing more than their competitors', which in industry terms is synonymous with having a competitive advantage. Hatching new plans Wadi has already drawn up expansion plans, Asfoor said, which entail installing cages in the Wadi Rayan Lake in Fayoum, where fish from the farm will be transported for their final stage of culturing. To this end, Wadi will soon enter into a joint venture through its subsidiary fish farm with another firm that has concessions over the lake, Ramzi Nasarallah, chief financial officer of Wadi Holdings, told Daily News Egypt. To expand, Wadi is shelling out $750,000 of its own money, which will be dovetailed with the same amount from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of a larger loan from the IFC, totaling $25 million for a plethora of projects in which Wadi dabbles, Nasarallah said. According to Nasarallah, the IFC loan will be useful toward ensuring the success of the fish farm, because it provides Wadi with funds at a low interest rate vis-à-vis local Egyptian banks — one of the main benefits, which, in turn, helps reduce the cost of the project. The extra cash for its expansion plans will be critical, because demand for farm raised fish is growing in Egypt: in 2009, 650,000 metric tons of farm raised fish were sold, whereas the figure stood at 450,000 metric tons in 2005, Asfoor noted. By 2017, farm raised fish will equal about 2 million metric tons or about 80 percent of the non-wild fish on the market in Egypt, he added. Asfoor also noted that Egypt is currently the fourth largest producer of Seabass globally, trailing behind Turkey, Greece and France, respectively. Egypt intends to undertake a breath of marine culture projects — or mariculture projects as industry insiders call it — in the next five years; combined with export channels opening next year, the farm raised fish industry has reason to wet its lips.
