Dubai, also called the capital of the Middle East, is capable of being an important market for the seafood industry as it is for many other sectors. Dubai almost having the appearance of a small coastal town until the early 1970s has made a rapid development upon discovery of oil reserves. Today, although its economy may be perceived as oil-based, the share of oil in Dubai's total annual income does not exceed 7%. Giant strides in real estate, international trade and the service sector have been taken in Dubai, with the transformation it has been experiencing and with the advantage of duty-free trade that it has been offering.
With the determination of tourism as a priority sector for Dubai, great strides have been taken in this direction and Dubai has been turned into a shoppers' paradise. Today there are more than 70 shopping centers in the city including Dubai Mall which is the world's largest shopping center for almost 15 million tourists who visit Dubai in a year.
The number of the Arab population expressed as indigenous people cannot even reach 350,000 in Dubai with a population of about 2 million people today. The rest of the population is composed of especially Indian, Pakistani, Bangladesh and Filipinos people. More than 70% of the population being already men clearly reveals the population coming to work here. Such an intense Asian population considerably increases the consumption of seafood in Dubai.
Dubai having a rapid development and transformation in the last 30 years has colored itself almost a city of skyscrapers. Therefore, district supermarkets and fishermen that we widely see in Turkey and Europe are not found in Dubai. People do shopping in hypermarkets situated in large shopping centers and this situation leads to a significant portion of fresh fish sales in hypermarkets, such as Carrefour, Lulu Market, Geant, Spinney's. These hypermarkets, especially Carrefour, offer a rich variety of fresh seafood to consumers.
Sea bream and sea bass have become readily available products in all chain stores in Dubai due to the ever increasing popularity of Mediterranean cuisine. However, many local fish in the country along with imported salmon is placed widely on the shelves. Consumers mainly prefer to consume fresh seafood and frozen and further processed products have got limited space on the shelves.
The second sales channel where seafood trade occurs most intensively in Dubai is the fish market. Unfortunately the fish market has lagged behind this development in Dubai rapidly evolving and surrounded by modern skyscrapers. Works are commenced to change the location of the fish market. The fish market operating in extremely primitive conditions has been continuing activities at its old place yet in Dubai which will have an extremely modern look with the new fish market to be built.
Hunting fish is particularly sold by auction in an open area located at the back of the fish market. Fish available in vehicles is sold through auction method by fishermen gathering in this area. It is possible in this area to see fish carried by trucks or fishermen who is sorting fish on a cloth they lay on the ground.
A distinguishing feature of Dubai fish market from others in the world is the fish cleaning area available in it. An important part of fishermen who purchase fresh fish from fish market bring their fish in this area and then clean them or make them fillet. This operation done for a fairly low price is one of the most important factors which make it difficult to sell fresh processed products in this country.
Dubai, which is the winner of Expo 2020 and aims to grow much more in the field of tourism and further continues to let in immigrants extensively, will apparently maintain to be an important market for seafood export in the coming years.
