Work is underway to establish 10,000 fish farms in Egypt, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Egyptian TV following President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's inauguration of a fish farming project in Ismailia, Mamish stressed that all of the established fish farms, totalling 1,034, are owned by the Egyptian people.

Fish farms are of great importance because they are based on the optimal use of water available at the Suez Canal, he noted.

"Egypt suffers from lack of protein, reaching 60 percent, that's why it was necessary to make use of our water resources to bridge this food gap," he added.