By Conrad Prabhu - MUSCAT — The government has earmarked in excess of RO 100 million for the development of the fisheries sector in the current 8th Five Year Plan, according to a top official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth.
Dr Hamed bin Said al Oufi, Fisheries Wealth Under-Secretary, said the lion’s share will go towards the construction of ports and other fishery-related infrastructure during the period of the Plan.
“We are lucky to have been alloted than R0 100 million in this 8th Plan. This is more than four times what was allotted during the previous Plan, and a big jump indeed. Much of this allocation will go towards infrastructure. By the end of this Five Year Plan, we hope to have a fishing port in each coastal town in Oman. This will have a massive positive impact on the livelihoods of fishermen.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the 11th ministerial meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC), which concluded in the Indian city of Bengaluru last week, Dr Al Oufi said part of the allocation will also help finance the upgrade of the fishing fleet, marketing chain infrastructure, training, exploration of new markets, and improvements in the quality of fish.
At the same time, the Ministry has expanded the coverage of its subsidy scheme to cover not only greater number of deserving fishermen, but also other segments of the fishery industry.
“Last year we introduced new legislation on subsidies. We raised the subsidy by 100 per cent. So fishermen are getting 100 per cent more than they used to get before. The benefits of this scheme have also been expanded to cover as many other related parties, such as traders, processing plants, and all kinds of people active in the fisheries sector.”
Expressing hope that the 2012 budget would be substantial enough to meet the higher subsidy costs, he stressed however the subsidy scheme is not designed to be a panacea for the sector’s current deficiencies.
“Subsidies are not the only thing that fishermen will need. There are other sources of financing: the Oman Development Bank (ODB), for example, gives loans at almost zero interest rate. This is the future of developing the sector. Subsidies, on the other hand, have two sides — a positive side and a negative side. People get subsidies and don’t become active because they don’t have to pay back anything.”
The official further added: “Subsidies have to go into specific activities where people are deserving of these subsidies. We don’t want to give subsidies to those who can afford to go to ODB and obtain free interest rate loans.”
Asked about the efficacy of measures instituted by the Ministry to help stabilise the availability and prices of fresh fish in the local market, Dr Al Oufi said the steps have helped shore up supplies to domestic consumers. Export restrictions on five notified species are still in force, he said. Other non-notified species may be exported provided at least the needed amount of the catch is marketed locally.
The measures, he stressed, are designed to ensure a careful balance between demand and supply, while safeguarding the fundamental interests of the fishing community.
“We don’t want a price crash because this will affect fishermen. We try to strike a balance between demand and supply. If there is bad intervention from the government, it could upset the whole sector with negative consequences in the future. So we are not targeting to reduce prices, because this will be very harsh on our fishermen. Everything is expensive these days: equipment, operating costs, living conditions, and so on. So we try to strike a balance. We are working closely with the fishermen and traders in this regard.”
