Abu Dhabi environment officials have hailed the first recorded sighting of a whitespotted grouper in the emirate's waters as a “major biodiversity milestone”.
The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi captured images of the species in September.
The fish is not considered critically endangered globally but its presence in Abu Dhabi waters is rare and was previously undocumented.
It is now registered on the international FishBase database, a global biodiversity information system, with Abu Dhabi as a recorded location, marking a first for the region.
“The first recorded presence of the whitespotted grouper [Epinephelus coeruleopunctatus] is a major biodiversity milestone,” the agency told The National on Tuesday.
“It indicates either improved habitat conditions or previously unrecorded distribution, both of which are valuable indicators of ecosystem resilience and monitoring effectiveness. This is the first confirmed record in the emirate, making it an important new addition to the UAE’s marine species inventory."
Groupers are a diverse group of fish and often loosely referred to in the Middle East as hammour. The whitespotted grouper, typically brownish grey in colour with distinctive white spots, can be found across the Indo-Pacific region. It is generally found in rocky areas, or near where coral is growing in chiefly shallow waters. It can grow up to more than 70cm.
The sighting is not the only boost for Abu Dhabi's waters over the past few months. The EAD also said 55 nuaimi fish, a species rarely sighted in recent years, were also landed in the emirate’s waters recently.
Crucial discovery
“This is very significant as the landing of 55 nuaimi fish [Pinjalo pinjalo] a species previously seen in very low numbers, suggests that fish populations are beginning to recover in healthier marine environments.”
Additional sightings have also been made recently of rare species such as the large-scaled triggerfish and the spotted oceanic triggerfish.
The sightings came as the EAD also reported an increase in the “sustainable fisheries index”, which measures how healthy fish populations are and how well fishing practices are helping them stay that way. It reached 97.4 per cent by the end of last year – up from just 8.9 per cent in 2018.
The EAD said this means nearly all of the “assessed fish stocks in Abu Dhabi are now being fished at sustainable levels”.
“In other words, they are no longer being overfished and have a good chance to recover naturally,” the EAD said. “This is a major improvement from 2018, when only 8.9 per cent of stocks were within safe limits.”
The development comes as Abu Dhabi continues its efforts to bolster sustainability of the emirate’s seas and indicate healthier marine ecosystems as the world marked World Oceans Day on Sunday.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of the EAD, said the achievement in the fisheries index reflected Abu Dhabi’s “unwavering commitment and the diligent efforts of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi” to protect marine resources.
“It reinforces Abu Dhabi’s ambitious vision to strike a harmonious balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability, serving as a global model for confronting environmental challenges for a prosperous and resilient future,” he said.
Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, secretary general of the EAD, said the significant progress made in the index underlines Abu Dhabi’s leadership in environmental conservation.
“We are committed to deploying best-in-class management practices and leveraging scientific capabilities to restore fish populations and protect marine ecosystems,” she said.
“This success affirms the importance of evidence-based policy and global best practices in conserving our natural heritage for future generations."
The EAD said: “By combining policy enforcement, protected areas, habitat restoration, and community engagement, the emirate is positioning itself as a regional and global model for sustainable marine management."
it also said the findings were a “success story” and part of a broader long-term, science-driven strategy by the EAD to protect and restore marine life in Abu Dhabi.
“By combining policy enforcement, protected areas, habitat restoration, and community engagement, the emirate is positioning itself as a regional and global model for sustainable marine management.”
The health of the world's seas are in sharp focus this week as nations meet in France at the UN Ocean Conference. The gathering seeks to build momentum and money for marine conservation despite the world's seas being affected by pollution, mining, overfishing and other issues.
At home, authorities have made concerted efforts over the past few years to ensure the recovery of fish stocks and put the emirate on a path to sustainability.
These measures include regulating commercial fishing activities through sustainable methods, as well as implementing new regulations for recreational fishing.
There are six marine reserves in Abu Dhabi, for example.
In 2019, gargoor, traditional metal dome-shaped traps used by fishermen, were banned in Abu Dhabi following a study that showed declines in hammour and farsh.
These efforts have continued since. The EAD in May unveiled a plan to plant millions of coral colonies by 2030. The project builds on the success of restoring one million coral colonies since 2021.
Fish numbers and species variety have increased by more than 50 per cent around these areas, the EAD said.
The EAD also launched the “Abu Dhabi Coral Garden” initiative the same month.
It plans to create “gardens” by installing 40,000 eco-friendly artificial corals of various designs and sizes.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
