Ghalioun Project is one of the largest fish projects in Egypt and the Middle East and Africa, but one of the largest fish farming projects all over the world.

The dream of establishing the largest fish farm in the Middle East has come true in the "Ghalioun Pool" area, which is located on the international coastal road, and follows the Motobas center in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued instructions for the implementation of the Baraka Ghalioun project, and then inaugurated it on the eighteenth of November 2017. It is the largest fish farming farm in the Middle East, at a cost of EGP 14 billion, and includes several factories, in addition to a fish and shrimp hatchery, and intensive farming units, under the supervision of the National Company for Fish Resources and Aquaculture.

Egypt ranks seventh in the world in fish farming, according to FAO statistics, and first in Africa in fish production, and the volume of fish imports reached approximately 236 thousand tons, representing 16% of the general production.

Opening Date:

On November 18, 2017, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated the first phase of the fish farming project in Ghalioun Pond as an integrated fish city, which includes a fish farm on an area of 4,000 acres, which includes 1,359 fish and shrimp ponds, a hatchery area, fry production, a research area, and an industrial zone on an area of 55 acres that includes a fish processing, packaging and packaging plant with a production capacity of 100 tons per day, a feed production plant with a production capacity of 180,000 tons per year, and an ice production plant with a production capacity of 60 tons in Today, and a factory for foam packages with a production capacity of 1200 packages per day, and the President opened through the video conference network a number of integrated projects for the development of fish wealth in Lake Bardawil in North Sinai, including an ice factory with a capacity of 60 tons per day, and a factory for foam packages with an average capacity of 1.2 tons per day and a seawater desalination plant, as well as the opening of the first priority for the fish cage project in East Port Said, where 50 cages for fish farming in the Mediterranean Sea with a total production capacity of 1250 have been completed. tons per session.

Objectives of the project:

- Bridging the food gap in the fish sector.

- Contribute to reducing illegal immigration, especially since Kafr El-Sheikh governorate leads the governorates of Egypt in the number of illegal immigrants of young people.

- Alleviating the unemployment rate, as 5,000 people from Kafr El-Sheikh and neighboring governorates work in the project, in addition to indirect employment of up to 30,000 workers.

-  Reducing fish imports by approximately 27%.

- Producing high-quality types of shrimp and mullet fish to achieve local self-sufficiency and export the surplus.

- Putting an end to the problems of overfishing in the seas and combating seed fishing in Lake Burullus.

- Creating a distinct production area for fish for local consumption and export, dedicated to the cultivation of marine fish with high economic feasibility and high nutritional value to keep them away from any sources of pollution so that they reach global levels.

- Raising the production value of fish farming, where production is expected to reach 3,000 tons of fish per acre in one cycle that takes 18 months, and shrimp production is expected to reach 2,000 tons per cycle, which does not take more than 6 months, as shrimp can only be raised in the summer. The types of fish that will be farmed are mullet, grouper, bream, and seabass, and the production is put on the local market and the surplus is exported through Armed Forces Distribution Centers.

First stage

1359 is the implementation of the first phase, which was achieved with the highest international standards ,

466 fish ponds and fattening with a production capacity of more than 300 tons / year ,

83 Freshwater aquarium for fish farming on 500 acres to meet the needs of citizens ,

655 shrimp ponds follow the latest breeding methods in the world are ponds with central drainage and fully lined Equipped with Taiwan-made pedals and automatic feeders and produce up to 200 tons year in support of the local market and export surplus abroad

155 incubators and fish fry serve these ponds

The area of one tank (50 meters * 50 meters) in addition to 10 workshops for breeding larvae and shrimp, and there are also 155 nurseries to vaccinate fry and take care of fish serving these ponds, as well as the establishment of canals and concrete channels, and the placement of a plastic layer "polyethylene" high-density HDPE to preserve water and not leakage.

Second stage

On an area of 9,000 acres, it includes a fish powder factory with a production capacity of 100 tons per day, a factory for the manufacture of sacks with a production capacity of 15 million shekara, and a water purification plant with a production capacity of 200 tons per day.

Elements of the project

Research, Training and Development Center:

It is a central laboratory for measuring quality and maintaining standard specifications for all products, and a center for research, development, and training of workers. The center is located within the fish farming project on an area of 700 meters, and includes the central laboratory, the water quality laboratory, the live food laboratory, the extension and training unit, the fish biology laboratory, the fish health, and diseases laboratory, in addition to the feed quality installation laboratory within the "Ghalioun Pond" project. The laboratory aims to produce fish of high quality and international specifications using the latest technologies and includes experts from the State of China who train Egyptians on the extent of quality measurement, ensuring that the fish are free of any diseases, and using safe clean water in fish farming.

Hatchery unit to produce "fry" for fish and shrimp:

This unit is the largest marine hatchery in the Middle East. It was built on an area of 17 acres, and consists of 546 ponds to prepare brood stock for spawning operations, in order to produce 20 million fry of the marine fish family produced by fish hatcheries, in addition to 2 billion shrimp fry produced by shrimp hatcheries annually, taking into account the standards of accuracy and environmental conditions through hatchery research centers, so that the farm is self-sufficient in its needs in order to put an end to the problems of overfishing in the seas and combat fry fishing.

 Capacitors:

It is a unit that includes intensive fish farming ponds with high productivity with a small amount of water and is a pioneering experiment.

 Housing areas for employees:

There are 7 flat residential buildings of 1000 square meters, a recreational area, qualified playgrounds, living quarters, accommodation, and laboratories designed according to international specifications and standards.

Computer Control Center:

There is a computer control center to monitor and control work in all project facilities and follow up on their workflow, and to ensure that no errors occur in the project.

Four factories as below:

*Foam Factory

The factory was built on an area of 1,400 square meters within the industrial city in "Baraka Ghalioun” and operates with a production capacity of 1,500 kg foam per day. The factory aims to achieve integration of the production of foam packaging, because it is highly cold-capable and sealed, so that the fish reaches the consumer's hand in a fresh state.

* Ice Factory

The ice factory is located on an area of 1900 meters within the area of the "Baraka Ghalioun" fish project, and the factory works in the field of feed preservation and storage, and fish preservation during transportation and handling with a production capacity of 40 tons of grated ice per day, and 20 tons of ice plates per day. In addition to preserving fish after its completion, the factory aims to provide ice to various external factories and limit its importation as the first ice production plant in Kafr El-Sheikh. Its ice production is planned to be sold to owners of factories, farms, and exhibitions in Kafr al-Sheikh, Rashid, and other cities at balanced prices. This factory is one of the most important factories that has been established not only in the field of fish cooling, but for the many uses of ice plates in cooling various goods and other products and protecting them from damage.

* Processing Factory

Processing is the first factory in the Middle East to produce, process and package fish, located on an area of 20,000 square meters within the industrial city, with a production capacity of about 100 tons per day, with 70 tons of fish and 30 tons of shrimp. The plant is fully sterile, characterized by its advanced sections and precise stages.

The factory is divided into two parts: one for fish production, processing, and packaging, and the other for shrimp. It is the largest fish production plant, producing about 20,000 flats, and the fish enters it and then comes out packaged ready to eat. The plant is fully operational to match the world's largest fish processing and packaging factories, using state-of-the-art systems and capabilities, and featuring state-of-the-art equipment in the Middle East.

* Feed Production Plant

The project includes a specialized feed unit for marine fish and shrimp with a total production capacity of about 180,000 tons per year, a marine fish feed unit with a production capacity of about 120,000 tons per year, and a shrimp feed unit with a production capacity of about 60,000 tons per year.

*3 stations

The project includes 3 giant stations characterized by perfection, magnitude, and large capacity, including two stations to supply fishponds with fresh and salt water, and a third station for water drainage. The station for supplying salt water to the farm consists of 12 "pumps" with a capacity of 72,000 cubic meters per hour, while the freshwater supply station consists of 5 "pumps" with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters per hour. The drainage plant, which is the largest of the three stations, consists of 15 pumps with a capacity of 90,000 cubic meters. The three stations are connected by two water channels in which the water that feeds all the ponds flows, the first 6 kilometers long dedicated to saltwater coming from the sea, and the second 1.5 kilometers long dedicated to fresh water. The two channels flow into the mixing pool where freshwater is mixed with salt, as well as 8 channels for feeding fish, 52 channels for feeding shrimp, and more than 26 branch drains.

Baraka Ghalion A new start for the development of Kafr El-Sheikh

The "Ghalioun Pool" project is a starting point for many other projects that the governorate is witnessing and coincides with, as follows:

Purification and deepening of Bogaz and Lake Burullus

This project aims to remove the various encroachments in the lake, including fencing, violating boxes and dams simultaneously. So far, 26 million meters have been cleared with a total of 6,200 acres in the water body of Lake Manzalah, with the removal of Nile roses and weeds in the western pond and several areas in Lake Burullus, and the efficiency of the Burullus Flats Police Department in the western pond has been raised. Work is underway to establish fishing boat marinas so that the starting points and return points for fishermen are determined from specific entrances and exits in the lake, in addition to the establishment of fish hatcheries and agricultural drainage water treatment.

Burullus Power Plant

The 4,800 MW plant consists of 4 modules, each consisting of 3 turbines (two 400 MW gas turbines and a 400 MW steam turbine) and two lost energy recovery boilers.

Linking the "Baraka Ghalioun" road with the international road and its tributaries

The road of the "Ghalioun Pool" project was constructed with a length of 14 kilometers and a width of 30 meters, in addition to the construction of 700 lighting poles and afforestation of the road, and the new road connects the fish farm and its neighboring villages with the international coastal road, which achieves a huge leap in the development of the region.

Construction of the new road leading to Motobas Beach in the north of the governorate, with a length of 2.5 kilometers and a width of 30 meters, to be an additional link to the Ghalioun Pool Road and reach the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

Construction of a Motobas Corniche with a length of 1000 meters and a width of 200 meters.

The construction of a corniche for Lake Burullus, in a way that does not affect the sedimentation basins for the dredging stages and the environmental formation of the lake, with a length of 3000 meters for the "first and second" phases, and a width of 18 meters, and the corniche contributes to securing the shore of the lake against encroachments, by providing integrated services to citizens, establishing a 40-kilometer protective bridge between the lake and fish farming lands to protect the lake, and modifying the course of the Bermbal Canal to flow directly into the lake.

Development of fisheries research

The Research Center "at the Sakha Research Station" and the Research Center "Faculty of Agriculture in Kafr El-Sheikh" work to develop the quality of fish product in quantity and quality, and the two centers are keen to achieve fish production operations in the governorate the highest economic return by raising the productivity of the fish farm, while ensuring the application of quality standards, in addition to the continuous work between all national institutions in the field of fish farming technology to prepare and train human cadres of technicians in the field of fish farming technology, through constructive cooperation and exchange Expertise and scientific research, and sending a large number of project workers for training in China to transfer experiences.

Efforts of the National Company for Fisheries

The National Company for Fisheries and Aquaculture - in cooperation with the concerned agencies in the State - exerts many cooperation and coordination efforts in order to take care of fish wealth, maintain the ecological balance, remove encroachments and violations, prevent the use or seizure of lake sanctuaries, introduce new systems for farming in desert and remote places using modern technologies and the least quantities of water, and cultivate rare fish of great economic value such as blue tuna and yellow tuna in cooperation with countries specialized in this  Domain. This is as follows:

Developing Lake Bardawil by raising the efficiency and development of 4 fishing marinas and clearing spores in the first phase. Clean-up work is currently being completed, considering the preservation of fish wealth and the increase in fish stocks in the lake. This is achieved through a commitment to implement biological rest on schedule, prevent fry and overfishing, implement fishing laws, take care of fishermen and their living conditions, use foreign expertise to develop the fish industry in Egypt, and establish a sorting and export hall in Ighzouan Marina in Lake Bardawil after obtaining the EU export license.

Establishing the first development and research center that contains specialized laboratories that monitor water and food quality, fish health and diseases, and feed quality.

Coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support areas of cooperation with African countries rich in fisheries.

Preserving the lakes and preventing the seizure of surrounding land, Lake Burullus was one of the most prominent areas where beaches were preserved, as well as maintaining the ecological balance in Lake Nasser, as well as establishing the first crocodile farm in Egypt in Aswan on an area of 160 acres.

Work is underway to implement the fish farm in East Tafri'a, and it includes 3960 marine aquariums with a production capacity of 16 thousand tons per session and includes 1614 freshwater aquariums with a capacity of 10 thousand tons per Dora, as well as the establishment of 41 marine aquariums with a capacity of 250 tons, and 20 shrimp ponds with a capacity of 100 tons in the Diba Triangle area in Port Said. Work is also underway to implement fish farming using marine ponds, where 50 marine cages were landed in the first phase of a total of 100 marine cages planned to be landed in the eastern area of the branch, with a production capacity of between 20 and 25 tons of marine fish per cage.

Work is underway to implement a project for hatching and farming blue tuna in the Jarjoub area of Marsa Matrouh Governorate, and a project for hatching and farming yellow tuna in the Zafarana area in the Red Sea, with a production capacity of 280 tons of marine fish and 3640 tons of tuna.