By Ali Ahmed al Riyami - MUSCAT — For the first time in the Sultanate, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be hosting a 2-day ‘International Conference: Sustainable Aquaculture Development in the Sultanate of Oman’ on December 10 and 11, which is seen as a very good opportunity for local and foreign investors to identify advantageous investment prospects.
The Sultanate’s 1,700 km-long tropical coastline with its rich marine resources has been identified as being conducive for fish farming and a number of new sites for this and for shellfish farming will be announced at the conference — inclusive of eight marine shrimp farm sites.
The conference will feature a host of regional and international speakers who are experts in the field and will provide an opportunity for delegates to meet officials, advisers and representatives of funding and investment agencies. Dr Saud bin Hamood al Habsi, Director-General of Fisheries Research and Director of the Agriculture and Fisheries Development Fund, spoke to the Observer about the upcoming conference and the development of aquaculture in Oman.
He said, the intention for hosting this conference is to bring together international investors with the knowledge and knowhow with local investors so that they can discuss and seek out the best opportunities for investment into this important and highly lucrative sector. Aquaculture in Oman is important in terms of providing food security, for the generation of job opportunities and in an economical point of view, Dr Saud stressed.
He added that hopefully Oman’s private sector will take up this initiative and grow this business which will help the country in many ways. He pointed out, the aquaculture industry will also be of benefit to other associated industries and that, hopefully, the conference will allow for the initiation of new projects. Commenting on the groundwork already performed for aquaculture in Oman, he said, over the last few years much time has been spent on trying to promote this endeavour.
A survey of the entire Omani coast was made so as to identify the best sites for aquaculture with the details of this being inserted in their ‘Atlas’ publication/CD. Atlas details the best sites in terms of temperature, oxygen content, salinity and species of fish that can be found at each site, noted Dr Saud. Besides this important information that can be used by investors, there is also a statistics book that specifies the diversity of fish all along the coast of Oman.
Work is also going on to update the legal framework that has been developed for aquaculture and on preparing investment guidelines – which is expected to be ready by the conference date and which will give a clear outlook for local and international investors.
The Director-General noted, worldwide, there is huge pressure on wild fisheries stocks, in terms of demand and supply. To counter this, many countries have turned to aquaculture for affordable fish supplies, fish stock sustainability and to meet ever increasing demands, resulting in 56 per cent of the world’s supply of fish emanating from aquaculture.
Currently there is only one shrimp farm in Oman. Hopefully, after the conference, investors will take up the government allocated sites and start up more aquaculture businesses, Dr Saud said.
