NAQUA Accepts 'Commitment to Excellence' Award

The Global Aquaculture Alliance recognized National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) with its “Commitment to Excellence” award at Seafood Expo Global (SEG) in Brussels, Belgium, on April 21.
NAQUA was recognized for achieving four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) status in January.
Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 2.54.31 PMPictured from left to right are Eng. Jaber Mohamed Al-Shehri, deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Alsharif Nasser Ali Almansour, chairman of ALSHARQ; Carson Roper, international business development manager for BAP; Eng. Ahmad R. Al-Ballaa, NAQUA managing director; and Michael Fog, NAQUA sales director.
Roper presented the award during a brief ceremony in NAQUA stand (9-4062) at SEG.
Four-star BAP status denotes that the processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills from which a group sources are BAP certified. It’s the highest such achievement in the BAP program.
NAQUA is qualified to offer four-star BAP shrimp and three-star BAP barramundi. It’s the world’s first company eligible to offer three-star BAP barramundi, and it’s the Middle East’s first company to earn BAP certification of any kind.
GAA is among the exhibitors at Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, the world’s largest seafood trade fair, featuring more than 1,700 exhibiting companies from 75-plus countries.

GLOBALG.A.P. Aquaculture Certification in Saudi Arabia - A First for the Country and the MENA Region

23 March 2015

Saudi Arabia’s National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) is the first company in the country to achieve GLOBALG.A.P. Aquaculture (Shrimp & Fish) and Compound Feed Manufacturing Certification. This success also makes the NAQUA Group the first company in the MENA Region to achieve both GLOBALG.A.P. Standards, and the fifth company in the world to achieve GLOBALG.A.P. Certification for Barramundi Fish. This also makes Saudi Arabia the ninth country in the world to be GLOBALG.A.P. certified for White-leg Shrimp [Litopenaeus Vannamei].

Commenting on this historical success, engineer Ahmed R. Al-Ballaa, NAQUA’s Managing Director, stated: “GLOBALG.A.P. Certification was a strategic target, which brings us to the front line of leading aquaculture systems in the world. This proves that NAQUA has well defined measures on complying with all local and global norms for animal welfare, sustained aquaculture and feed manufacturing systems, professional and talented human resources, and a platform for producing world-class seafood products.”

Mr. Al-Ballaa continued by saying; “GLOBALG.A.P. Certification will help us explore our global markets as a recognized, sustainable aquaculture company. This success shows that company’s strategic approach towards aquaculture system management to serve the cause of food security has been successful, by distributing our products in broader bands in the local and international markets, and by exploring new international markets. We are serving our customers with guaranteed quality seafood products that have become internationally recognized.”

The National Aquaculture Group is fully committed to the highest standards for global aquaculture practices. Considered a model for local and global aquaculture systems, NAQUA is one of the largest integrated desert coastal companies in global marine aquaculture systems, with over 2,500 employees in the group and an expected production capacity of 35,000 metric tons of shrimp and 100,000 metric tons of fish. In addition to fish and shrimp, NAQUA produces sea cucumber, algae and artemia products. NAQUA uses Red Sea water to produce and enhance the flavor of the shrimps and fish with total consideration to protecting and improving the environment. 

Mr. Nasir Hameed, NAQUA’s Director for Corporate Quality & Sustainability stated: “We have raised the bar for all aquaculture systems in the region by achieving GLOBALG.A.P. Certification. We fix our targets according to business and market needs on quality and food safety, environment and sustainability. This success proves the company’s compliance towards all global regulatory and industrial standards for a sustainable aquaculture system. It is a great success and yet another bright day at work in fulfilling our promise to produce the best possible quality of aquaculture products for our customers and consumers.”

NAQUA’s distinctive achievement follows a comprehensive assessment of the business by SGS Australia PTY LTD, an independent accredited certification body for global Good Agricultural Practices.

For more information about the National Aquaculture Group, please visit www.naqua.com.sa.

To learn more about GLOBALG.A.P. Aquaculture Certification, go to www.globalgap.org/aquaculture.

To learn more GLOBALG.A.P. Compound Feed Manufacturing, go to www.globalgap.org/cfm.

Saudi Arabia shrimp, barramundi producer seeking toexpand exports

By James Wright, Senior Editor - SeafoodSource.com

Published on Wednesday, April 22 2015

The arid climate of Saudi Arabia may not seem like a prime region for seafood production, but National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) is growing its vannamei shrimp and barramundi production in land- and se

“Fish [grown in] the Red Sea, which has a very high salinity, have a special flavor,” Michael Fog, sales director for NAQUA (Stand 5-229), told SeafoodSource at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.

The company has 400 ponds of about 10 hectares in size in which it produces Pacific white (vannamei) shrimp, roughly 17,000 metric tons (MT) annually. Its barramundi production is at 5,000 MT annually, explained Fog.

“We’re looking to improve our [regional] market,” he added. “There are 400 million people in the region, 90 million in Egypt alone.” But the goal at Seafood Expo Global is to attract more international business.

About 60 percent of NAQUA’s seafood production is exported to Asia, the United States and the EU. The company launched an advertising campaign to build awareness of its “Red Sea Barramundi” in the U.S. market starting last November, and will run throughout 2015.

NAQUA in January became the Middle East’s first aquaculture producer to earn Best Aquaculture Practices certification.

a-based operations.

National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) Booth at European Seafood Expo 2015

Red Sea Barramundi at European Seafood Expo 2015

European Seafood Expo 2015

Constant activity in our booth. Potential partners are attracted to try our Red Sea Barramundi and Red Sea Shrimp.

NAQUA Accepts ‘Commitment to Excellence’ Award

April 21, 2015

The Global Aquaculture Alliance recognized National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) with its “Commitment to Excellence” award at Seafood Expo Global (SEG) in Brussels, Belgium, on April 21.

NAQUA was recognized for achieving four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) status in January.

Pictured from left to right are Eng. Jaber Mohamed Al-Shehri, deputy minister of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Alsharif Nasser Ali Almansour, chairman of ALSHARQ; Carson Roper, international business development manager for BAP; Eng. Ahmad R. Al-Ballaa, NAQUA managing director; and Michael Fog, NAQUA sales director.

Roper presented the award during a brief ceremony in NAQUA stand (9-4062) at SEG.

Four-star BAP status denotes that the processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills from which a group sources are BAP certified. It’s the highest such achievement in the BAP program.

NAQUA is qualified to offer four-star BAP shrimp and three-star BAP barramundi. It’s the world’s first company eligible to offer three-star BAP barramundi, and it’s the Middle East’s first company to earn BAP certification of any kind.

GAA is among the exhibitors at Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, the world’s largest seafood trade fair, featuring more than 1,700 exhibiting companies from 75-plus countries.

National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) - Corporate Video

National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA) - Red Sea Barramundi - http://www.naqua.com.sa

Red Sea Shrimp 

http://www.naqua.com.sa