By IPS Correspondents
ABU DHABI, Feb 18 2003 (IPS)

The Fish Resources Assessment Survey in United Arab Emirates (UAE) waters, conducted by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) in cooperation with the UAE concerned agencies and an international consortium, has been completed.

Final results of the survey were presented in the workshop organized by ERWDA today at the Inter-continental Hotel, Abu Dhabi, according to a press release issued today. The workshop was inaugurated by Majid Al Mansouri, ERWDA’s Secretary General and attended by the participating parties.

The consortium, which is made up of Bruce Shallard and Associates, a consultancy providing fisheries management services, the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), and Deoitte Touche Tohmatsy, was contracted by ERWDA to undertake the survey in January of last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is also involved in this year-long project.

Research cruises by R/V Flinders were conducted for a one-year period using a combination of techniques. These included the – swept area method", which involved trawling at randomly selected sites in different depth strata within the territorial waters of the UAE, and high tech echo-acoustic techniques which rely on sonar to detect and measure fish. Trapping with ôGargours" was also used to compensate for the inability to use trawl gear in non-trawlable grounds.

The project provided a wide array of detailed information on the fisheries resources of the UAE including estimates of the total amount (biomass) of commercially important species, safe harvest rates, seasonal changes in distribution and abundance and spawning seasons.

The Fish Resources Assessment Survey will provide UAE management authorities with a sound scientific basis with which to make decisions relating to the development and regulation of the fishery. The results will fill gaps in the current information base and form the foundation for the development of management regimes throughout the country.

The operation in Abu Dhabi Emirate was carried out in cooperation with the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will provide services and expertise in the Northern Emirates.

The survey, which is part of a five-year Environmental Strategic Plan developed by ERWDA in 1999, is aimed at assessing fish and marine resources in UAE waters by acoustic survey supplemented by fishing operations to make available information on the abundance and distribution of fish and marine resources in the area.

Other objectives of the survey include obtaining improved estimates of stock size of major demersal and small pelagic species, their seasonal and geographic distribution, establishing catch rates of major species, undertaking biological studies of selected species, establishing estimates of safe harvest levels for major species, providing basic oceanographic data relevant to fish resources, and upgrading technical skills of national research personnel.

Representatives of national institutions who participated in this survey received on-the-job training in the methods being used. Training seminars in fish ageing and oceanographic data collection were also held. With this vital capacity building activity, it is intended that the UAE will develop an indigenous skill base in the field and conduct its own resource surveys in the future.

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