Status of fish farming projects reviewed

Muscat: The Aquaculture Committee held its fourth meeting on Monday at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The meeting was chaired by Dr Hamad bin Said Al Oufi, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Chairman of the Committee.
The meeting reviewed the current status of fish farming projects. The production of integrated projects for this year amounted to 179 tonnes of tilapia fish, with a total value of OMR268.000, with a growth rate of 76.4 per cent for 2018, from 19 farms licensed for tilapia farming.
Ornamental fish
The committee also gave preliminary approvals to 4 projects that will start production next year. There is one project licensed to grow freshwater ornamental fish.
As for commercial aquaculture projects, production for this year amounted to 813 tonnes of seabream fish compared to 350 tonnes for the last year.
The value of production for this year amounted to OMR1,626,000 that are produced from the floating cages project at a marine site in the Wilayat of Quriyat.
The Committee was informed of the progress of work in other projects and the stages reached by the constructions.
80 per cent of the construction of the first stage of ponds for the shrimp farming project has been completed and expected to be operational in March 2020.
Omani Abalone
It is also expected to launch two Omani Abalone projects in the next year.
The committee approved the withdrawal of a number of licenses for commercial fish farming projects due to companies lack of commitment to implement the projects. The sites will be bid for companies in the next registration.