The Public Works Authority, Ashghal, yesterday announced completion of the construction work of Aquatic Fisheries and Research Center stretching over 101,000sqm in Ras Matbakh.
It is expected that the production capacity of the fish hatchery unit will reach 2.4 million larvae through four seasons of hatchery per year. The production capacity of the shrimp hatchery unit is expected to reach 2 million larvae through four hatchery seasons per year and the final production of shrimp is 6 tonnes per year per season.
Engineer Abdul Hakim Ahmed Al Hashemi, Head of Public Projects Section, Buildings Project Management Department-Ashghal, confirmed that the project was built according to the highest standards of construction quality and design, as well as the country standard specifications and green building system pursued by Ashghal since 2010.
He added: “the facility, located in Ras Matbakh, has a value of approximately QR237.7m, and stretches over 101 thousand square metres. The centre is a scientific institution specialised in marine environmental research and studies fish farming, aiming to help monitor and protect marine ecosystems, develop and increase local fish production, support biodiversity and train national human force on using modern technologies in aqua culture”.
Al Hashemi clarified that the research centre project is made up of three main units; a marine finfish hatchery, a marine shrimp hatchery, and various buildings specified for scientific and administrative laboratories, in addition to services and a supplement buildings.
The fish and shrimp farming unit includes a number of sub-units and facilities, including a water pumping station, a marine fish hatchery, incubation units, fattening fish, a fish pond processing unit and six different laboratories.
The administrative office building contains two floors, including 28 administrative offices, two meeting rooms, and a lecture hall.
The centre also includes a number of buildings and other related services such as generating rooms and electricity control, as well as buildings for feed stores, maintenance workshops, workers’ dormitories, staff accommodation, shaded boats, marine boats parking, car parks and landscapes.
The project aims to establish a national centre specialised in marine applied aquatic studies and researches, and equipped with the latest equipment and techniques to benefit all the scientific institutions concerned with the marine environment.
The center can carry out researches and studies that require testing the living marine organisms, and to identify kinds of fish and crustaceans that are most economically feasible in Qatar’s environmental and climate conditions.