Jobseekers learn art of processing fish

Business Saturday 12/June/2021 16:31 PM
By: Times News Service
Jobseekers learn art of processing fish

Muscat: The Fisheries Industries Innovation Unit at the Industrial Innovation Centre (IIC) in the Wilayat of Al Musannah, organised a training course on producing and processing smoked fish.

The three days training course, which was presented by Eng. Younis Zanati, an expert of seafood development and several specialists in IIC, targets those who are specialised in the same field such as the owners of fish grill shops and staff members of fish selling outlets, in addition to the job seekers who are interested to join the fisheries sector.

The course programme includes the preparing process for the long tail tuna, which is locally called Sahwah, and the Indian mackerel (Dhala’aha), while both kinds of fish are considered among the best suitable Omani fishes for the smoking process.

The programme shows detailed data on the fish smoking process, which includes preserving the fishes in a mixture of salt and melted ice for 17 hours, and then being smoked in the smoking device that used the wooden sawdust.

IIC is always keen to organise series of workshops and courses to empower Omani youth in the field of value-added industries, particularly in the fisheries sector, while the Sultanate’s fisheries production in 2020 exceeded 600,000 tonnes, which calls for the presence of value-added industries to enhance their market value instead of trading them as primary products.

Muzna Al Hatimia, CEO of Laames Company, a specialised private company in fish industries, and one of the incubated companies in the fisheries Industries Innovation Unit, stressed the need for intensifying such kinds of training courses, especially in light of the implementation of Oman’s Vision 2040, which aims at enhancing the sustainability of the national economy.
She also stressed the important role of the small and medium enterprises in supporting the national economy, diversifying its sources and creating job opportunities for Omani youth.

In addition to the Fisheries Industries Innovation Unit, the Industrial Innovation Centre has set another two innovation units, namely the Food & Beverage Innovation Unit, and the Animal Feed Innovation Unit, which were established in cooperation with the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources.

These units are considered as part of the important social and economic innovations that aim at enabling entrepreneurs and innovators to manufacture their products in accordance with the adopted health systems, as well as enable them to market their products properly. These innovation units also provide the service of manufacturing prototypes for various enterprises and innovators.