Opportunities and challenges for cobia, Rachycentron canadum aquaculture in the United Arab Emirates
Aquaculture and Marine Studies Center, Abu Al Abyad Island, The Private Department of the President, P.O. Box 372, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Review Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 19(03), 1048–1057
Publication history:
Received on 05 August 2023; revised on 17 September 2023; accepted on 19 September 2023
Abstract:
Among the many candidate local species identified for development of aquaculture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cobia (Rachycentron canadum) has the great potential for farming in floating cage systems. Successful spawning and rearing of larvae and juveniles was first achieved by the Aquaculture and Marine studies Center, Abu Al Abyad Island, Abu Dhabi in 2008. The first trial to grow cobia in near shore cages of 55 m³was done in 2009 when the stocked fish reached an average weight of 2.87 kg in 12 months rearing period. Subsequently two more attempts were carried out in larger 15 meter diameter (636 m³) cages in 2022, the results of which were not encouraging. There are many challenges for the development of cobia farming in UAE. This article highlights the current technological challenges, sustainability issues, marketing strategies and policy matters that confront the development of commercial cobia aquaculture in the UAE and offers some recommendations.
Keywords:
Cobia aquaculture; Rachycentron canadum; United Arab Emirates; Environmental challenges
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0