The mission has examined, together with GEFs' MFB, various alternative project possibilities for the development of marine aquaculture in Syria, taking into account the local conditions in respect of environmental conditions, fish market status, availability and cost of materials and services, level of technological expertise, and applicable technical solutions.
Marine aquaculture is in the main targeted towards high-value species, particularly when considering intensive culture techniques, due to relatively high production costs in comparison to freshwater species like carp and tilapia.
In this project the following criteria were set for selection of species for culture:
- high demand and price on local market
- tested rearing technology
- compatibility with local environmental conditions.
Molluscs (Mytilus, Ostrea, Tapes) were ruled out due to extremely low productivity of coastal waters, and to their absence from the local market.
Pond culture of penaeid shrimp with natural sea water replenishment is not possible due to the small tidal range in the area. The market demand and price are very high though, and semi-intensive rearing of species such as P. japonicus may constitute a viable venture due to the favourable sea water temperatures (for seven months the temperatures are above 20°C). south of Latakia and the region of Tartous are favourable areas due to availability of low flat land next to the sea. In order to appraise the viability of shrimp culture in Syria a further study on their growth performance is required.
A number of fish species meet the selection criteria:
Gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata a local species whose numbers have been steadily declining; it is widely farmed in the Mediterranean, including neighbouring countries like Turkey and Cyprus, from where fry is available.
Sheepshead sea bream, Diplodus puntazzo also present locally (although not as abundant as D. sargus); it is farmed in Cyprus, Italy, Croatia, and Greece. Fry of this species is available from hatcheries in the region.
Red sea bream, Pagrus major is not native to Syrian waters, but is very similar in appearance to the local Pagrus caeruleostictus (Ferride) and Pagellus erythrinus (Jarbide). It is widely farmed in Japan, and has been introduced into the Mediterranean in 1987 (Lisac, 1989). A number of hatcheries (Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus) produce fry of this species, which has a fast growth rate (it is usually grown to a market size of 1 kg). It does not command a high price on the Italian market because of its resemblance to the cheaply imported Pagellus from the Atlantic. The species could thus find ready acceptance on the Syrian market.
Sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax is another local species whose numbers have rapidly declined following the elimination of estuarine habitats. On the Syrian market its sales price is about 20% lower than that of sparids.
In addition to the fish listed above, the farming of a number of species now produced at pilot scale in the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea could be implemented in Syria in the near future:
Dusky grouper, Epinephelus guaza
Common sea bream, Pagrus pagrus
Sparid hybrids, between P. major, D. dentex, and S. aurata.
Being cold-blooded animals, the metabolic activity of fish is regulated by temperature of the surrounding water. Thus temperature is the major single factor regulating the potential growth rate of fish in intensive culture conditions (assuming other factors such as feed and water quality are met). Gilthead sea bream, for example, has an optimum growth temperature of around 26 °C and ceases to grow below 12–13 °C.
A computational model developed for predicting the growth rate of marine fish as functions of temperature and fish size was applied to examine the difference in potential rate of growth of selected species depending whether they are subjected to temperatures prevailing in Syria or to temperatures characteristic of the middle Mediterranean. The model assumes optimum feed, water quality, and farm management procedures in both cases. Although the absolute growth rate of fish is also dependant on factors not assessed in the model, it none the less provides a good comparison between growth potential in different temperature regimes. Simulation of the rate of growth of gilthead sea bream, red sea bream (Jarbide), and sea bass under Syrian sea water temperature conditions is shown in Annex 8a.
This can be compared to the growth attainable in middle Mediterranean sea water temperature conditions (Annex 8b).
It appears that the prevailing sea water temperature conditions in Syria are particularly favourable for the growth of these fish. The growth cycle from 1 g fry to 350–400 g market size fish is 2.5–5 months shorter in Syrian waters compared to the middle Mediterranean.
The systems considered for marine fish-farming in Syria are :
There are no lagoons nor large estuarine areas in Syria which preclude the implementation of extensive culture techniques on land.
Pond culture of fish at low density (1–5 t/ha) is feasible in Syria from a technical point of view. Large areas at sea level exist, especially just south of Latakia and in the region around Tartous. Supplementary fertilization of the pond and/or feeding is required, with limited water exchange (once per month). The low productivity of such systems, linked with requirement for large areas of land, may limit their economic viability depending on investment costs.
Intensive culture in tanks can be implemented almost everywhere where flat areas are available near the shore. It requires a continuous high flow of clean sea water to convey oxygen to the cultured fish, and to eliminate metabolic wastes. An ideal site for a land-based farm is on flat land just 1 or 2 m above the sea surface (to reduce pumping head), with access to deep water (to ensure pure and sediment-free water at all times). The inlet water supply can constitute a major investment cost factor, depending on local site conditions. There is the requirement of ensuring a constant flow of new sea water at all times, which requires both doubling of most mechanical and electrical components, and an efficient control and repair system during operation. The advantage is the ability to control the fish stock at all times, and provides easy grading and harvesting of the fish.
Intensive rearing of fish in tanks (raceways, circular tanks) appears to be the most applicable land-based culture system in Syrian conditions. Intensive systems do not use the natural productivity of water, and all the food is supplied from outside sources in the form of dry pellets, moist feed, or trash fish. Such culture systems will be further analysed in subsequent chapters.
Traditionally the intensive culture of fish in cages was practised in closed bays and other sheltered marine areas.
The cage culture of marine fish was an interesting alternative to land-based culture in many regions since it does not necessitate the pumping of water and requires lower investment costs. Operational technology is generally simpler than with tank culture, as there is not the requirement of complex control and alarm systems, nor for a dedicated 24-hour surveillance. This usually results in lower production costs compared to intensive land-based culture in tanks.
In many regions the rapid expansion of cage culture soon surpassed the availability of protected sites, leading to a gradual move of cage culture operations towards more exposed marine environments. In recent years the technology for offshore cage culture in completely open seas has developed in many areas, including Spain, Italy, Malta and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. During the development period offshore cage systems were sometimes subject to technical failures, but this has been overcome in most of today's cage systems. None the less, cages in open sea environments require the implementation of a strict inspection schedule to ensure safe operation.
Similarly as in tank culture, intensive cage systems do not use the natural productivity of water, and all the food must be supplied from outside sources. The applicability of cage culture technology in Syria is examined in later chapters.
The farming of the selected fish species in any of the proposed systems requires a secure source of fry or fingerlings for ongrowing to market size. This can be obtained either through direct purchase from neighbouring countries or from own hatchery production, or a combination of these.
Marine fish hatcheries are technologically complex, relatively expensive facilities, and their operation requires skilled manpower. A hatchery consists of several distinct sections for various phases in the production cycle. These sections are: broodstock holding and spawning, phytoplankton and zooplankton, larval rearing and nursery/fry, each with their specific technological requirements. Typically, the end product are fry 4–5 cm long, weighing 1–2 g.
Although they are capital intensive, hatcheries require a limited land area, and consume modest quantities of sea water.
In pregrowth (or prefattening) fry are raised from 1–2 g to 20–30 g in size. This represents an intermediate stage between hatchery and either tank or cage ongrowing to market size. In many cases the pregrowth is incorporated either with the hatchery or with the tank or cage culture facilities.
An independent land-based pregrowth has similar operating technology as land-based culture facilities, but requires smaller tanks, and significantly less sea water flow.
A land-based tank farm might have the pregrowth incorporated as the first stage of the production process, using reduced volume tanks.
Cages in sheltered areas may similarly employ smaller cages for the pregrowth stage, while open-sea cages rely on the supply of pregrown fry of at least 10 g in weight. These may be obtained from either a tank pregrowing facility or for a near-by cage pregrowth placed in more sheltered waters.
A preliminary survey of the Syrian coast was performed through field visits, including reconnaissance from land, surveys by boats and underwater inspections of selected areas.
Key factors affecting the choice of sites are presented in the following Sections 3.4.1–3.4.3. The main parameters affecting cost of investment, biotechnical success, operational security and cost of operation are evaluated for each type of facility. The numbers chosen represent a simple subjective view of the values which might be attached to each parameter, on the basis of data available to the mission. There may well be other factors, not considered in this analysis, which could favour or eliminate certain locations compared to others. Thus the obtained ranking does not represent an absolute value, but merely provides a general guideline.
Annex 9a indicates areas along the coast which were examined as potential sites for land-based tank culture facilities. The main features of each site are summarized in Table 2, where a numerical value has been assigned to each parameter examined (the higher the index assigned, the more suitable or advantageous is the ranking of the respective parameter).
Table 2
ASSESSMENT OF SITES FOR LAND-BASED CULTURE
| Parameter / Site No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Locality | Ras el Basit | Ras el Berset | Tinat el Kabat | Sinn farm | Baniyas | Tartous |
| Road access | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Infrastructure | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Sea water intake cost | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Sea water quality | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Land levelling cost | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Required pumping head | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Vicinity to market | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Total Index | 25 | 31 | 32 | 25 | 30 | 27 |
Annex 9b indicates areas along the coast which were examined as potential sites for sea-based cage culture facilities. The main features of each site are summarized in Table 3 below.
Table 3
ASSESSMENT OF SITES FOR CAGE CULTURE
| Parameter/Site No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Locality | Ras el Basit | Tinat el Kabat | Port of Latakia | Sinn farm | Baniyas | Arowat (Tartous) |
| Exposure conditions | 6 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Infrastructure | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Vicinity to shore | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Sea water quality | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Harvesting facilities | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Pregrowing facilities | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Vicinity to market | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Total Index | 28 | 32 | 38 | 19 | 26 | 24 |
Annex 9c indicates areas along the coast which were examined as potential sites for hatchery facilities. The main features of each site are summarized in Table 4.
Table 4
ASSESSMENT OF SITES FOR HATCHERIES
| Parameter / Site No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Locality | Ras el Basit | Ras el Berset | Tinat el Kabat | Sinn farm | Baniyas | S.Latakia sand-dunes |
| Road access | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Infrastructure | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Sea water intake cost | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Sea water quality | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Land levelling cost | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Building costs - use of existing structures | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Technical backing | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Total Index | 20 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 23 |
The characteristics of the sites for hatcheries examined above are very similar to those important for land pregrowth facilities. In this respect Table 4 is equally indicative for tank pregrowth facilities which thus are not treated separately in the present analysis.
The mission attempted to evaluate the cost of production of marine fish species utilizing the culture systems which can be implemented in Syrian conditions (land-based farm, cage farm, pregrowth in tanks and in cages, hatchery).
Cost of production gives a measure of the risk involved in a project by giving an indication of the minimum price which must be achieved per kilogramme in order that the project turns a profit, or not to produce a loss at the very least. By considering the cost of production in relation to the sales price which may reasonably be expected for the fish, this will give us a picture of the profitability of the operation. This we call gross profit per kilogramme, defined as follows :
Expected Sale Price per kg - Cost of Production per kg = Gross Margin per kg.
Annex 10a provides a summary of the principal parameters (assumptions) applied in the calculation of production costs.
The currency utilized throughout the analysis is the United States Dollar ($US). The exchange rate applied is Syrian Pounds (LS) 50 to $US 1, which is the prevailing World Bank rate, and corresponds to currency exchange rate applied in neighbouring to that generally calculated by private industry in Syria. This differs from the official exchange rate of the Syrian Commercial Bank, of LS 42 to $US 1.
The price of energy (diesel, gasoline, electricity) applied is that valid in Syria in April 1996, i.e., identical to that given in Annex 7.
Fish feeds are all considered to require importation. Prices are based on direct importation of standard pelletized grow-out and juvenile dry feeds from countries such as Italy and Spain, including transport costs by container. Larval feeds include artemia, enrichment diets, freeze-dried plankton and dry larval diets, imported from a variety of sources (USA, Europe, Japan). Prices are inclusive of air freight.
The prices of fingerlings, fry, and live fish eggs, are average values for a combination of the following marine species : Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, Pagrus major and Diplodus puntazzo. The prices include freight in all cases. Most likely sources include Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Italy. In the event of domestic production of fingerlings or fry, identical prices are applied.
Broodstock fish are mainly assumed to be fished locally, and bought from the fishermen at a price about five times higher than average retail prices.
The wages of personnel applied is three times higher than the existing government rates in Syria (compare to Annex 7.). This includes fringe benefits and productivity-related incentives. Marine fish farming requires dedicated and responsible staff, and we consider this can not be obtained from personnel paid government salaries.
The investment costs refer to facilities with an annual production capacity geared for 100 t of market size fish (farms and pregrowth). This requires a fry supply of approximately 340 000 units, for which it is not economically feasible to construct a hatchery. The hatchery investment cost refers to a facility with production capacity of 1 million fry, since this is considered to be the minimum economic scale for a marine hatchery. Details of investment budgets applied for the different types of facilities are given in Annexes 12a, 14a, and 15.
Investment costs include items which require replacement, such as spare nets in the case of cage facilities, so that a depreciation period of eight years is applied to cage facilities and ten years to land-based facilities.
Average market size of the fish produced is taken as 380 g, although the range is likely to be between 300 and 600 g in practice, depending on season and market demand (see Annex 8a. The market sales price of $US 8 (LS 400), is considered the average ex-farm value for the fanned species. This is approximately 30% lower than the winter price, and 12% higher than the summer wholesale price for these species (see Annex 6b).
The fish survival rates applied are slightly conservative compared to those now routinely obtained from good quality fry in commercial farming operations in the Mediterranean. This means an overall survival, from fry to market size, of 78%.
The feed conversion of marine fish is dependant on a number of factors, amongst which the feed quality and the yearly sea water temperature regime play an important role. In middle Mediterranean temperature conditions a feed conversion index of 2.0 to 2.2 is standard. The temperature regime in Syria is much more favourable (sea temperatures in the optimum range above 20°C for eight months of the year), and a feed conversion index has thus been employed.
The interest rates applied by Syrian banks for agriculture development projects is generally 4–6%. We have chosen to apply the less favourable extreme in this analysis.
Three alternative systems of market fish production are analysed:
Land-based culture in raceways, beginning with either imported pregrown fingerlings, or imported fry pregrown in own tanks, or starting from locally produced hatchery fry.
Sea-based culture in cages, beginning with either imported pregrown fingerlings, or imported fry pregrown locally in tanks, or starting from locally produced hatchery fry.
Sea-based culture in cages, beginning with either imported pregrown fingerlings, or imported fry pregrown in own small cages, or starting from locally produced hatchery fry.
Operations in the various installations based on the assumptions described in Section 3.5.1 would give the costs of production in the alternative production systems and options detailed in Annexes 10b, 10c, and 10d.
Table 5
PRODUCTION COSTS: SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTION SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS
| Type of Facility | Farm only | Farm & Pregrowth | Farm, Pregrowth & Hatchery |
| Land-based Raceways | 397 | 378 | 408 |
| Sea-based Cage Farm | 271 | 252 | 282 |
| Cage Farm & Pregrowth | 271 | 247 | 281 |
All figures in LS/kg
Despite the limitation that the absolute values obtained from the analyses may represent only indicative figures, the following general guidelines regarding production costs of different culture systems in Syrian conditions emerge from the analysis:
- Production cost in tank culture is approximately 40% higher in land-based farms compared to cage farms, due principally to very high investment costs and energy costs (pumping).
- In all cases, integrating a pregrowth facility to the farm lowers production costs, due principally to the high cost of fingerlings compared to fry (transport expenses constitute a significant portion of fingerlings' cost).
- There is not a significant difference in production costs between tank pregrowth and cage pregrowth facilities.
- The supply of fry from own hatchery increases total production costs. However, this factor must be treated with some reserve since it is calculated on the basis of a hatchery working at only one third of designed capacity. If the analysis were done on a production scale of 300 t instead of 100 t market size fish, the total cost of production with fry from own hatchery would certainly decrease.
On the basis of considerations treated in the previous sections, it appears that:
A number of environmental conditions (primarily sea water temperature and low natural productivity) in Syria are favourable for the development of intensive mariculture production facilities.
The coastline and infrastructure permit the implementation of both land-based and sea-based production systems. Existing supply of marine fish is limited, and the a local demand for demersal fish species is higher than available supplies.
Economic considerations favour cage culture compared to tank culture facilities for rearing fish to market size.
A cage-culture facility, even on pilot scale, can be a commercially interesting venture.
A cage-culture facility can be integrated with a pregrowth facility, either on land or in cages, with good economic returns.
The setting-up of a marine hatchery, whilst providing a valid technical and support structure, is not a priority action in terms of economic returns.
The development of marine aquaculture activities requires investment in both production facilities and in the development of local staff capability.
The development of marine finfish aquaculture would be aimed at the production of luxury products for a domestic niche market and will be dependent on importation of feed or feed ingredients.
Pooling together all the data collected by the mission, including availability of sites, and with emphasis on a gradual transfer of marine fish farming know-how, the mission recommends:
A pilot production facility for marine fish species in cages be set up as the first phase of marine aquaculture development.
The pilot facility should be scaled so as to represent a demonstration and training facility which at the same time can be a commercially interesting venture.
The pilot cage facility should include structures for the rearing of fish fry from an initial size of 1–2 g to market size.
The hatchery should be introduced at a second stage following familiarization of local staff with grow-out techniques and following decision to upscale production capacity.
The pilot facility should be designed so that, in the future, it can provide a support base for fingerling pregrowth and serve as a harvesting station to public and private fish fanning projects.
Local staff capability should be developed through training in commercial production facilities in Mediterranean and Middle East countries.
The government should seek external technical assistance and support for the implementation of the pilot facility.
