Interior decoration growing fishy

Dubai: They say people's possessions like cars, cell phones and jewellery can tell much about their status, but a different kind of entrée has recently made the list: fish.

"It's a power thing that if you have it in your office you're doing well," said Samer Heikal, General Manager of Reef of Fish, an Abu Dhabi store that specialises in aquariums. 

The ornamental fish business is a growing element in interior decoration, according to fish shop owners.

Many say that the bulk of their business actually depends on fish lovers rather than big projects.

"At the moment, we are doing projects for local people in their villas more than we are working in for example hotels," Heikal said. "Even though business slowed down last year, it's picking up now. It's picking up a lot actually," he said. Some spend as much as Dh200,000 on their fish, he added.

Big potential

Andy Sayo, a projects manager at Pets Plus, a pet store in Dubai, said that there's "very big potential" for the market.

"We have customers, but we're also dealing with restaurants and big villas and even palaces," he said.

In 2008, the UAE imported $2.3 million (Dh8.4 million) worth of ornamental fish, said V. K. Dey, a senior consultant to the organisers of Aquariya Expo 2010, an exhibition for the ornamental fish business which took place in Dubai over the weekend.

Comparing 2008 to previous years, the amount has gone up from $1.13 million in 2006 and $2.3 million in 2007, he said.

"This is the second largest hobby in the world after photography," he said. "It's become a hobby for both Emiratis and expatriates here," he said.

Looking at how expensive this hobby is, it seems that several elements factor into the price: the size of the aquarium and its filtering system, the fish food and of course, the fish.

Sayo said that a complete aquarium set up with some fish is sold for around Dh10,000.

"Some fish can be as expensive as Dh15,000 and as cheap as Dh1," said Mohammad Khalifa, who runs the National House Trading, a pet shop business.

The UAE is the largest importer of ornamental fish in the Middle East, said Nafees Ahmad, one of the organisers of Aquariya Expo 2010.

Many of these fish are imported from Asia, especially Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

However the growth of the UAE market seems to reflect the growth throughout the Gulf.

Thamer Behbehani, who runs an ornamental fish business in Kuwait, was in Dubai just to see the exotic fish and check out the latest in aquarium technologies.

"The past five years have been really active when it comes to business," he said.

"People also understand why some of these accessories are expensive the way they are."