Yemeni fisheries ripe for investment [Archives:2006/949/Business & Economy]

Yemen possesses vast fisheries located off its coasts that have significant commercial potential. If exploited properly, the revenue gained could cover the current budget deficit and improve the incomes of poor families. However, the obstacles blocking the development of the fisheries are the drawing-up of implementation plans along with finding private sector partners to increase the catch brought annually, marketing, canning, and exportation.

While many fishermen criticize the government for not devoting enough energy to the development of Yemen's fisheries and associated businesses, Minister of Fisheries Mahmoud Ibrahim Saghiri says the fishery management and conservation project, the “Fish Fifth Project,” represents one of the government's fields of investment fixed in the Third Five-year Plan (FYP) for development and poverty alleviation. It is anticipated that the project will begin implementation by the end of this year lasting until 2010. The project's budget comes to $35 million and is supported by the World Bank, the European Union as well as the government.

Saghiri maintains that the project constitutes a big boost to the fishery sector as it focuses on developing infrastructure related to fisheries and supports the process of monitoring quality levels thus ensuring the ability to maximize the value of future exports. Besides that, the project envisions the construction of research stations along the coasts of Yemen, extending from Midi on the Red Sea, to the Gulf of Aden and ending at the shipping area adjacent to the Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian Sea. The project also includes the construction of ports, wave-breakers, and wholesale fish markets in the coastal governorates as well as the rehabilitation and expansion of existing ports.

The Minister noted that the project will establish fish breeding centers, which are expected to form the nucleus of fish culture in Yemen. He added that the “Fish Fifth Project” includes support for the restructuring of the Ministry of Fisheries aimed at decentralizing its overall activities, the initiation of statistical system and information network, the preservation of current fish stocks, and the beginning of monitoring and inspection of Yemen's fisheries.

Seeking to increase the average annual fish production to 700,000 tons a year by 2010, the Ministry has lobbied for the restructuring of fish exports in the next FYP so that the industry becomes value focused instead of concentrated on maximizing the sum of exports. The draft FYP aims to increase production growth rates and fish exports, while preserving the fish reservoir in a manner that sustains Yemen's fisheries. Additionally, it plans to improve the quality of the catch and how it is marketed. It is expected that the plan will increase fish exports by an annual rate of 8.5% so that the catch will amount to 124,000 tons by 2010.

The Ministry of Fisheries' plan envisions increasing involvement of the private sector in the comprehensive development of the fishery sector with the enactment of policies attracting domestic and foreign capital. The government has encouraged the private sector to invest in fishery-related development and the establishment of a national fishing fleet.
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