(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) has issued 19 licences to investors who have met technical criteria to set up aquaculture projects. The total investment in these projects is valued at RO128.8mn.
The aquaculture industry in the sultanate is attracting huge investments from within and abroad as shrimp farming alone has the potential to initially produce 3,000 tonnes of shrimp valued at an estimated RO30mn.
H E Hamad bin Said al Oufi, Undersecretary for Fisheries Wealth in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) said that the shrimp farming project, which is going to be a major boost for the fisheries sector, will begin in the coming weeks after the ministry completes signing the contract on land assigned for the project and giving it to the investors to commence production. ''The project is expected to produce 3,000 tonnes of shrimp with an expected value of RO30mn. The project is mainly financed by Omani investors and partly by foreign ones. The land allocated for the project is located in South Sharqiyah,'' he said.
He said that the ministry is only supporting the investment projects by signing the land contracts with the Ministry of Housing and not undertaking works of clearing and preparing the lands. ''In the next couple of months, a number of plots assigned for aquaculture will be floated for investors.''
H E Oufi said that private sector investments have resulted in the opening of eight aquaculture farms in the governorates of South Batinah, South Sharqiyah and Dakhliyah.
The investments are related to small aquaculture farms breeding tilapia (Nile river fish), with four farms in South Batinah, two in South Sharqiyah and two in Dakhliyah. ''The production from these farms is expected to reach 1,000 tonnes.''
Also, the number of applications filed with MoAF by investors for aquaculture projects is 31 and estimated to be worth RO147mn. The applications include farming shrimp through pond culture, fin fish farming through cage culture, fin fish farming using the basin system, besides farming sea cucumber, lobster and Omani abalone.
The aquaculture committee includes H E Oufi, H E Eng Ahmed al Deeb, Undersecretary for Industry in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, H E Eng Mohammed al Araimi, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, H E Eng Saif al Shaksy, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Housing, Dr Saud al Habsi, director general of fisheries research at MoAF, Kameel al Mousawi, director general of financial planning in the Ministry of Finance, Rashid al Kiyumi, director general of Maritime Affairs in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Dr Ahmed al Mazroi, director general of fisheries development, Abdullah al Abri, director of legal department and Dr Fahd al Ajmi, director, centre for aquaculture, MoA
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