UMM AL QAIWAIN // Everyone loves a tasty piece of hammour or emperor fish - but often the enjoyment comes with a twinge of guilt at eating a threatened species.
That may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to an initiative at the Ministry of Environment and Water's Marine Resources Research Centre in Umm Al Qaiwain.
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The centre is breeding fish to be released into the wild, and has already had some early success with the emperor fish. It is now testing techniques to help the fish to grow to the point where they are big enough to sell.
"We try to see what type of fish are overfished, like the hammour and the emperor, and we run tests in our labs to see how we can save them," Dr Ebrahim Abdulla Al Jamali, the centre's director, said.
"Our aim is to protect fish stocks, and improve them by breeding commercially important fish and shrimp using artificial methods before releasing them back in the sea."
In its attempts to protect endangered species, the centre has earmarked mangrove swamps, lagoons and government-protected areas for the fish to be released into.
"These areas protect the released fish more so than the open sea," Dr Al Jamali said.
"Mangroves act as a nursery for small fish and invertebrates, a refuge for migratory birds like seagulls and a shoreline protection."
Mangrove swamps are an incredibly rich source of food, teeming with nutrients from the decomposing leaves of the trees that grow there. The centre's mangrove nursery has 20,000 trees, all destined to be planted out in lagoons or in the centre's drainage system.
"Their survival rate increases drastically because they have many different routes to escape big fish and the feed available in mangroves is much better than regular beaches," Dr Al Jamali said.
The centre is working on a handful of species, including hammour, subaitis, sweetlips, mullets, rabbitfish and sea bream. New to that list is the emperor fish.
It also has a hatchery, and a micro-organisms culture unit where six tanks of phytoplankton (microscopic plants) are grown to be fed to fingerlings.
Outside, six hatching tanks are home to hundreds of fish eggs. There are four ponds for breeding and six larvae tanks, where juvenile fish undergo the metamorphosis into adults.
"We produced around 130,000 fingerlings in the past six months and our aim is 10 million by the end of the year," Dr Al Jamali said. The centre has released more than 60,000 fish so far.
The centre is also trying to preserve coral reefs, which are under threat from the rising temperature of the sea.
It has four underwater "banks" off the coast of Fujairah, each consisting of 500 reefs that between them support about 24 species.
"Five or ten species of them on average have the highest growth rate," Dr Al Jamali said. "They're all crucial for the UAE and worldwide because they are the fish and the plankton's habitat. We're planning on creating more of those banks."
It is also one of the country's key defences against red tide - algal blooms that are harmful to fish and humans alike. The centre conducts coastal and marine environment studies to detect the occurrence of any red-tide plankton. They bloom in warm weather and in the presence of nutrients.
For the past two years, the UAE has set up eight programmes as part of a national plan to avert red tide.
The experts also carry out biological studies of fish, testing for disease, plankton aquaculture and broodstock at its four laboratories. Another ten are planned.
Last February, the President, Sheikh Khalifa, offered the centre Dh75 million to improve its facilities.
cmalek@thenational.ae
Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
- Former first lady Hillary Clinton
- Former US president Barack Obama
- Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
- Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
- California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
BRAZIL SQUAD
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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South Korea
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