Regime Leases Vacant Fish Farms in Al-Ghab Plain Without Public Auctions

For the past four years, Hama Governorate has been offering the agricultural lands of absentee owners for investment through official public auctions, in a routine manner, aiming to generate financial returns for the governorate’s treasury. Most of these absentee owners are people forcibly displaced to opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria.

Meanwhile, vacant lands that include fish farming ponds (fish farms) spread across the eastern part of Al-Ghab Plain are not being offered for public auction for investment. Those currently seizing them, who are pro-regime security and military officers, prefer to grant these fish farms directly to investors in exchange for personal advantages, without any benefit for the Governorate’s treasury. Most of these officers are from the Military Security Branch and the National Defense Forces Militia, both of which control the area.

An article published in the official Al-Baath newspaper on June 29, 2024 explained that some fish breeders have relocated from the Kazo neighbourhood, in the northwest of Hama city, to Al-Ghab Plain to invest in vacant fish farms. The Kazo neighbourhood is a relatively remote area sparsely constructed and large agricultural lands, some of which were previously used as fish farms by many residents. However, a shortage of groundwater, which was the water source for these hatcheries, led to a decline in their operations. A correspondent from The Syria Report in the region reported that the move by fish breeders to invest in the vacant fish farms in Al-Ghab Plain is driven by several factors. These include the abundance of spring water, which reduces the need for pumps and lowers production costs, as well as the availability of vacant fish farms whose owners were displaced. These farms require only minor repairs to resume operations.

The article mentioned that fish breeders relocated from the Kazo neighbourhood to Al-Ghab Plain just after receiving approval from what was referred to as “relevant authorities.” The term “relevant authorities” often refers to security agencies and, in rare cases, to certain official institutions. In the case of the fish hatcheries and farms, it is assumed that the General Authority for Fish Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform is the official body responsible for managing the fish farms, overseeing their operations and regulating any violations.

Fisheries are concentrated in the eastern part of Al-Ghab Plain, particularly along the strip stretching from the town of Qalaat Al-Mudiq to the villages of Al-Hawiz and Al-Hamra. Before 2011, Al-Ghab Plain had fish farms covering an area of 110 hectares, managed by the General Authority for Fish Resources, with an annual production of around 600 tonnes of various types of fish. In addition, there were 518 privately-owned fish farms in Al-Ghab Plain before 2011 covering an area of 655 hectares, 200 of which belonged to residents of Qalaat Al-Madiq living in the countryside around the town, reaching Al-Hawiz and Al-Hamra. Currently, only 25 hectares of these fish farms are being operated by their original owners, while the rest have been abandoned as their owners were displaced to opposition-held areas, and the farms were seized by regime officers and security forces.

The correspondent notes that this area is now classified as a “first stability zone” due to its proximity to the frontlines, meaning that the military and security agencies have full control over the area. Within this zone, hundreds of hatcheries were seized by regime forces in 2020.

Hassan, who was forcibly displaced to camps in northern Idlib, owns hatcheries with his family consisting of 10 ponds, spread over about 15 hectares in Qalaat Al-Madiq. The size of each pond ranges between five and 10 dunams. Hassan told The Syria Report that a military security officer, who had previously taken over their hatcheries, leased them out to investors from the Kazo area at the beginning of 2024 for SYP 4 million per pond, regardless of its size.

Many former fish farmers from Qalaat Al-Madiq, like Hassan, confirmed to our correspondent that these farms were not leased through any public auctions, nor part of any official activities organised by Hama Governorate. They were also not subject to any decision under Public Contracts Law No. 51 of 2004, which has been used by Hama Governorate since 2021 as the legal framework for authorising public auctions for the investment of absentee lands. This stands in contrast to the publicly organised auctions for vacant absentee lands planted with pistachios, olives, or cereals, which are regulated by the General Secretariat of Hama Governorate.

Notably, regime forces do not provide any protection to fish farm investors, even though the area is very close to the frontlines with opposition forces. They also offer no benefits to these investors. One of the displaced fish farm owners told the correspondent that anyone could invest in the fish farms without needing any proof or security approval, as long as they make a deal with the officers who control them. Otherwise, they could face the same fate as Mohammad, whose entire carp production—10 tonnes—was confiscated by Military Security. He had been raising the fish in farms owned by his relatives who live outside regime-controlled areas.

In the markets of Hama city, the price of carp is around SYP 80,000 per kilo, while the price of tilapia ranges between SYP 75,000 and 95,000 per kilo, depending on the size of the fish.