Ten government and private entities are continuing their preparations to launch the “Sayyad Project” in early September, affirming their readiness to provide support to small businesses in the sector, with the goal of ensuring that every fishing boat at sea has a Saudi crew member on board by 2020.
Dr. Ali Al-Sheikhi, Director General of the General Directorate of Fisheries and CEO of the National Program for Fisheries Development, explained during the “Fisherman Project” workshop organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture at the National Dialogue Center in Riyadh, that 10 participating entities had expressed their readiness to launch the project in early September. These entities include the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Interior, the General Organization for Technical and Vocational Education, the Agricultural Development Fund, the Human Resources Fund “Hadaf,” the Council of Saudi Associations, fishermen’s associations, representatives of Red Sea fishermen, and representatives of Arabian Gulf fishermen.
Al-Sheikhi emphasized that the workshop aims to listen to fishermen and understand the challenges they face in the fishing sector, as a preparatory step for launching the project, which aims to develop the sector and enable Saudis to pursue fishing as a profession, in line with the objectives of the National Transformation Program and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
He explained that the Ministry has worked to assess the current state of all sectors, including the fishing sector, and has presented strategies to enhance the sector’s success and achieve its intended goals. To this end, it has launched several initiatives that directly contribute to the advancement of the fishing sector, explaining that infrastructure has remained an obstacle to its development. Consequently, the ministry launched a port development initiative to meet the primary needs of fishermen in service areas adjacent to the port, which include (a desalination plant, a gasoline station, a diesel station, an ice plant, a freezing and packaging plant, maintenance workshops, spare parts, restaurants and recreational facilities, fish markets, and e-commerce), so that these ports serve as major hubs for local catches and imported fish.
Al-Sheikhi added that the ministry has also been working on an initiative to develop fish markets, which will be launched during the third quarter of 2018. In addition, the installation of automated tracking devices in the Arabian Gulf has begun to ensure the safety of those working in the industry, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks. An electronic program was also recently launched to automatically renew fishing licenses and process fines.
Fishermen have expressed their readiness to launch the initiative and have proposed measures to support the “Fisherman Project,” welcoming every Saudi who joins the profession. Some of them have donated their own boats to enable young Saudis to enter the fishing profession, calling on the relevant authorities to provide the necessary resources to ensure the success of this initiative, which aims to develop the fishing profession and advance the sector.
The workshop, organized by the Ministry of Environment through the National Program for the Development of the Fisheries Sector, was attended by Engineer Saad Al-Ghamdi, Director of Regional Saudization at the Ministry of Labor; Zamel Al-Aqeel, Director of Branch Management at the Agricultural Development Fund; Zamel Al-Aqil; Bandar Al-Saadoun, Director of the Partnership Department at the General Organization for Technical and Vocational Training; Khalid Al-Bata, a representative of the Council of Cooperative Societies; and Khalid Al-Shuwaiki, a representative of the Makkah Fishermen’s Association.
