Aquaculture key to fisheries sector

MUSCAT: Dr Hamad bin Said bin Sulaiman al Aufi, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, has underscored the importance of the aquaculture sector as it plays a major role in the exploitation of fisheries wealth and provision of job opportunities for nationals and helps in economic diversification.

Al Aufi made his comments at a meeting of the Aquaculture Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries held on Monday. The committee members discussed several topics that aim at accelerating the development of the aquaculture sector in the Sultanate. The meeting came up with a number of recommendations for both the integrated aquaculture and commercial aquaculture sectors.

There are 24 integrated aquaculture projects in different wilayats. The output of Tilapia fish grew from 5 tonnes in 2014 to 101 tonnes in 2018 and 130 tonnes during the first 9 months of this year. The ministry has received 21 applications for commercial fish farms which will contribute greatly to the provision of job opportunities for Omanis and the availability of fish supply in the local market. A total of 350 tonnes of long finned sea bream were produced from commercial fish farming in 2018 which increased to 557 tonnes during the first nine months of this year. — ONA