Pacts worth RO13mn inked to boost fish farming

Pacts worth RO13mn inked to boost fish farming

Muscat – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) and Blue Waters company signed two usufruct agreements on Monday for marine sites in the wilayat of Quriyat. The sites will be used for tuna fish fattening and finfish farming.

The agreements were signed by H E Dr Saud bin Hamoud al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and Sheikh Nasser bin Sulaiman al Harthy, chairman of the Board of Directors of Blue Waters.

The tuna fish fattening project is a first-of-its-kind initiative for yellowfin tuna fattening in Oman that will target global markets importing high-quality tuna fish, such as restaurants for traditional Japanese dishes.

Spread over 193 hectares, the project will produce 400 tonnes of tuna in the initial phase and expand to 2,000 tonnes at an investment value of RO4.8mn. Under the finfish agreement, the company will raise the production capacity of its existing floating cage farm in Quriyat to 5,000 tonnes from the current 3,000 tonnes in the next three years.

According to the agreement, the project will be expanded by exploiting a new marine site in Ramla area in Quriyat on an area of 3.75mn sqm and with an investment value of RO8.6mn.

Blue Waters, a fully-owned subsidiary