Desert Fish Farm

When you first think about it, cold-water fish farming in the middle of the desert doesn’t seem to make financial sense. Building a land-based recirculation aquaculture system covering an area of 500,000 square meters at a cost of more than $27 million, plus the ongoing costs of keeping the tanks cooled to a temperature of 13 degrees Celsius (about 50 degrees Fahrenheit) sounds too expensive to be competitive. But one Middle Eastern firm is betting that it will pay off in a big way.

First of all, the cost of shipping salmon (for example) from northern Europe can run up to $5 per kilogram, so producing it locally results in big savings. While the company can, and has, built tanks offshore, in the long run they see onshore farming to be much more environmentally sound and sustainable, since it avoids issues such as acid rain, high tides and elevated water temperatures that already threaten oceans and marine life. In addition, there is less likelihood of spreading diseases or otherwise causing harm to wild fish.

The new facility will be capable of producing approximately 4,000 tons of fish per year including salmon, Hamour, and sea-bream.