Iraqis hooked on "mazgouf" dream of fish farm bonanza

By Adrian Croft

HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis are very fond of "mazgouf", fish split open and cooked over a wood fire.

But years of conflict and environmental woes have cut the supply of much-prized river fish, the preferred ingredient to make the dish.

A U.S.-backed project in central Iraq aims to revitalise Iraq's dilapidated fish farms and meet strong demand for fish that is likely to grow now that levels of violence are falling.

"Right now fish is the only product being produced in Iraq that has an over 200 percent profit margin, and it's because there's such a shortage," said Duane Stone, a U.S. fish farmer who is an advisor for the project.

Fish caught in the Tigris river, which flows through Baghdad, were once sought after to make "mazgouf".

But pollution has cut fish stocks and conflict after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq made it dangerous for fishermen to work on the river.

People were put off eating Tigris fish last year when rumours spread that the fish were eating corpses that had been dumped in the river, victims of violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

During former President Saddam Hussein's last years, the draining of Iraq's southern marshes and the damming of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers led to a dramatic decline in fish caught off Iraq's coast, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.