RIYADH: A Saudi fish farmer who turned a hobby into a thriving business venture has revealed the secret to his success.
Mohammed Saleh Al-Suwaid took advantage of special water conditions in a part of the Kingdom’s Najran region to start breeding tilapia.
And almost five years on, production levels at his farm in Al-Harshaf village have reached an annual 40 tons, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Plentiful water supplies rich in ammonia near a large dam in Wadi Halal, gave Al-Suwaid the idea of building a small pond to experiment with tilapia cultivation and before long he had constructed more pools to increase production.
Initial he stopped producing fish in winter.
He said: “But I dug a pond in part of the farm located in the middle of the mountains, and the result was good.
“As production continued throughout the year, people began to take notice, and demand exceeded production due to the lack of fish in the area.”
In a bid to meet demand, Al-Suwaid converted his fish pools into one large pond with an oxygen tank. Output doubled and costs decreased as he was able to replace human labor with ducks to control the numbers of smaller fish.
He pointed out that his project had been supported with SR250,000 ($66,600) from the Agricultural Development Fund, and help and advice from the local branch of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture.
Al-Suwaid’s fish farm, which has views over the surrounding lakes and mountains, is now also popular with tourists.
