Nakheel conducts a major fish rescue operation at The Palm, Jumeirah
Nakheel, the premier property developer in the Middle East, has successfully completed a major marine life rescue operation in the waters of The Palm, Jumeirah.
The operation, conducted by a team of experts and supervised by Nakheel, set another example of Nakheel's corporate culture of environmental protection and its readiness to invest in mitigation plans to ensure conservation of natural resources. The operation was also implemented to carry out a fundamental study that surveyed marine life around the island and its respective condition and diversity.
In total, 1,869 fish and other forms of marine life were rescued in the operation which lasted two months, including hamoor, crabs, butterfly fish, red snapper, sea bass and shrimp, and approximately 30 other species, demonstrating the diversity of marine life around the island.
The rescue operation took place within the walls of the coffer dam constructed at the tip of the island's spine, a structure necessary for the building of the 1.4km long underwater vehicular tunnel that will connect the island to the surrounding crescent. In order to construct the tunnel, a dry area of land was needed hence the necessity of the dam. However, it was recognized in the planning stages that once the dam was closed, many fish would be trapped within the dam and, once drainage of the water commenced, those fish would die.
Dr Imad Haffar, Manager of Nakheel Research and Development department explains: «Upon recognizing the threat to the marine life, we set up a taskforce dedicated to the live-catching and subsequent relocation of such life. We also set plans to collect data on the diversity and status of marine life, making use of this excellent scientific opportunity.»
The taskforce, which included members of Nakheel's environmental department, Parsons de Leuw Cather Supervising Consultants of the project - and Taisei, the Japanese company contracted to construct the tunnel, appointed renowned local fishing expert Hamad Al Rahoomy, General Manager of both Emirates Aqualive and the Dubai Fishermen Co-operative Association, with the task of catching the fish alive and then relocating them in the waters off the north side of the crescent.
Hamad Al Rahoomy comments: «With the contours and land masses on The Palm, Jumeirah providing perfect shelter, differing water depths and a varied substrate, an entire ecological network has formed around the island. The area was full of fish and after just three days of fishing, we had caught and relocated 314 fish or various sizes and species. However, once the drainage commenced, it became much more of a challenge.» Challenges posed by the decreasing water level included alteration in the pH level of the water, changes in current, temperature and turbidity and the fact that the crew could no longer reach the dam walls with the boat, so they had to carry the tanks of fish by hand, up the increasingly steeper slopes.
On the last day of the operation once the dam was fully drained 371 fish were caught and relocated. In two months, 1869 fish and other forms of marine life had been saved. As Dr Imad Haffar explains however, the number of fish saved was not the only achievement:
«To our knowledge, this type of exercise has never been done before in our industry. It is vital that as we create our landmark developments, we do all that we can to prevent adversely effecting our nation's natural environment and work hand in hand with people like Mr Hamad Al Rahoomy to achieve that goal. The results of the rescue demonstrate that we are creating habitats for fish in total there were 35 different species of sea life rescued. Further, the operation was carried out without any disruption to the ongoing construction of the overall development, proving that such exercises are possible. This achievement signals an important cultural change».
