Fish reserve launched in Fujairah

Work on the development of a 360,000 square metre fish reserve in Dhadna, Fujairah, has commenced as part of the community-driven "Al Bayt Mitwahid - Our Home is United" initiative launched by employees of the court of His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the U.A.E. Armed Forces. Led by the Crown Prince's Court (CPC) team, the Al Bayt Mitwahid campaign aims to promote a culture of "giving back to the community" across the seven emirates. To ensure the proper execution of the campaign, the CPC team will oversee the implementation of all the initiatives, and will work closely and in co-ordination with several government and federal authorities across the country. The Minister of Environment and Water, Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, laid down the foundation stone of the development which will see the construction and deployment of environmentally friendly reef balls (artificial reef), which will become a primary feeding area for demersal (bottom dwelling) fish off the coast of Fujairah. Several fishing spots will be revived with reef balls to encourage environmentally-friendly fishing techniques. Present at the ground breaking ceremony were Sultan Abdullah Alwan, Ministry Assistant Under-Secretary for External Auditing, Hassan Al Yamahi, Director of Fujairah Municipality, a number of top local officials and employees of the CPC and heads of fishermen's societies in the Eastern Coast. The attendees viewed models of the environmentally-friendly artificial reef balls and then met with fishermen to educate and inform them about the importance of the project in replenishing fisheries, which have dwindled in the eastern coast region by 94% since 1978. The initiative, which features the establishment of a 360,000 square metre fish reserve of 450 environmentally-friendly caves in Dhadna, is the first of its kind in the region in terms of both size and number of caves. A joint team from the Ministry and Fujairah Municipality will establish five fishing zones equipped with 50 reef balls to encourage fishermen to adopt sustainable fishing methods. Dr. Bin Fahad voiced his gratitude to the CPC employees for launching the campaign and for their sincere national efforts and engagement in activities and programmes associated with the campaign. He warned that fisheries were facing tremendous challenges, including over-fishing, which has led to depletion of the fish stock, putting many species in danger of extinction. The reef balls, he noted, is an important technology for protecting and developing aquatic resources and plays a vital role in creating a fertile deep water environment that attracts sea creatures and establishes colonies with integrated ecological systems and this, in turn, will have a positive impact on the diverse marine life. He added that this initiative aims to make and establish 500 artificial reef balls in Dhadna, Fujairah, to grow reef farms and release fish fingerlings on the reserve to develop the fish and other marine resources, conserve marine environment and ecological biodiversity and create safe grounds for breeding rare species. ''As we celebrate this event today we recall the statement of Sheikh Mohamed, ''We are well as long as our home is united.'' The CPC team carried out other awareness activities as they informed primary school students about the new fish reserve and about the different species of fish and methods of conserving them by reducing consumption of endangered species. They also distributed the Choose Wisely guides, prepared by the EWS-WWF (Emirates Wildlife Society - World Wide Fund for Nature), to educate consumers about the future of fisheries in the U.A.E..