National Aquaculture Policies and Practices.

This National Aquaculture Policies and Practices is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at providing a basis for the development of sustainable and responsible aquaculture practices in the Kingdom to enable the country to plan its aquaculture operations, monitoring methods, evaluation procedures and improvement strategies. The cultivable aquatic organisms (both fresh water and marine water) object of this Policy are 1. Fishes, 2. Crustaceans, 3. Molluscs, 4. Seaweeds, 5. Algae and others. The targets of this document involve three general categories of the national development, that can be summarized as follows (1) enhance the capacity building of the aquaculture sector by (i) improving the existing aquaculture operations and practices; (ii) providing baseline information for the forthcoming aquaculture projects; (ii) adhering to the international aquaculture regulations; (iv) improving the aquaculture product safety and traceability; (v) improving the aquatic animal health management; (vi) enhancing the sector research in the country; (2) favor the economic and market development of the sector leading to the following outcomes (i) increased national income through export earnings; (ii) support to the domestic market in providing better aquaculture products for less price; (iii) more employment opportunities for Saudi citizens in the public and private sectors; (iv) enhancement of regional cooperation; (v) socio-economic developments; and (3) protect the environment and the biodiversity through (i) better control and monitoring; (ii) conservation of genetic diversity of the ecosystems; (iii) control on the introduction of non-native aquaculture organisms; (iv) control on aquaculture drug abuse in the culture operations; (v) pollution control due to aquaculture operation.
Responsible body for all activities related to aquaculture operations is the Aquaculture Department at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture regarding (i) strategies for sustainable and responsible aquaculture operations; (ii) legal and administrative system; (iii) renting aquaculture land to the investors; (iv) licenses; (v) inspections; (vi) technical assistance to the industry; (vii) logistics support.
As for the production, the Policy indicates some general rules to improve it and make it more sustainable. They are (i) use hatchery larvae rather than wild-caught larvae, and use wild brood stock only under the supervision of the Aquaculture Department to develop a domesticated program, but not for commercial use; (ii) maintain good water quality and not excessive feeding rates, also by keeping records for daily feed application rates; (iii) responsible use of fertilizers, liming materials, and all other chemicals; (iv) reduce the incidence of diseases and to protect natural fisheries through good aquaculture and health management; (v) sustainable use of freshwater from wells or natural sources (which are suitable for human consumption); (vi) proper waste disposal; (vii) improve feed quality and feeding to optimize the conversion of feed to animal and reduce the amount of waste entering culture systems.
The food topic regards mainly safety and traceability of the products. In this respect, are suggested intervention in the following fields (i) disposal of waste materials; (ii) written sanitation and hygiene practice for all aquaculture operation; (iii) sanitation and hygiene monitoring program from brood stock to processing plant; (iv) evaluation of the suitability of a site/location for aquaculture, including testing for any chemicals, drugs, and pathogens that might pose a human health risk; (v) inspection of the site/location; (vi) controls to prevent contamination to aquaculture systems from septic runoff from humans or other animals; (vii) chemical or microbial contaminants in the feed ingredients and feed; (viii) ban of feeding with uncooked organisms or any nutrient source derived from uncooked organisms; (ix) lists of pathogens, drugs, and chemical contaminants that pose existing or potential human health concerns and effective measures to control these risks; (x) implementation of HACCP system to minimize the risk of contamination and residue retention. Great importance is given to the quality of the feed used so it is recommended to improve feed quality and feeding to optimize the conversion of feed to animal and reduce the amount of waste entering culture systems. Furthermore, feed ingredients should not contain pesticides, chemical contaminants, microbial toxins, or other adulterating substances.
Environment protection is another of the themes to which is paid great attention, in particular in the following fields (i) protection of the biodiversity in terms of (a) mangrove ecosystems, (b) aquatic mammals and terrestrial wildlife, (c) minimization of harmful effects of introducing non-native species or genetically altered stocks, (d) application of principles of a good Biosecurity program to all systems whether they are land-based, flow-through, and sea cage systems; (ii) waste management procedures and reduction of amounts of waste, including wastewater and sediments, proper utilization of primary effluent water and solid wastes by recycling, using for other operations, and proper daily feed application to improve productivity and reduce waste loads.
As for Governance, the Aquaculture Department shall design its own legal and administrative structure to provide a suitable base for the initiation, implementation, and development of the various aquaculture activities. In this connection, the Department shall have its Head Office, Regional Offices, Research Centers equipped with staff, instruments, and other required facilities. There shall be assigned officers, veterinarians, experts, and support staff, as well as officers assigned to conduct regular monitoring, inspections, and audits.