Aquaculture Site Selection and Zoning in Oman

Dawood Suleiman Al-Yahyai1

Abstract

The vision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAFW) is to develop aquaculture in sustainable, competitive and environment-friendly basis in Oman which meets the needs of customers for high quality aqua products.

Several features making Oman attractive to local and foreign investors include long coastlines with their diversified natural marine resources, worldclass infrastructure, close proximity and easy access to key export markets, attractive financial incentives, support commitment from government authorities and well organized institutional and legislation frameworks.
Determination of suitable sites for aquaculture is very important for the success of the commercial aquaculture projects. Therefore, Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries conducted a detailed survey of the Omani coast at the beginning of the last decade. An atlas for suitable sites along the coast was prepared which include general oceanographic and environmental description about the coast of Oman. It also contains general information about the suitable methods for aquaculture and major constraints. In Oman, the sites for aquaculture projects were allocated in cooperation with the concerned authority in Oman such as Ministry of Housing and Ministry of Environment & Climate Affairs. A recent project was started by the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries to select suitable sites for marine cages in Musandam Governorate using GIS and remote sensing tools which determines the carrying capacity for each site. The main objective of this project is to build up a model for sustainable aquaculture development applicable to other regions of the Sultanate of Oman.

 

 

1 The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO or the World Bank Group.

Al-Yahyai Dawood, S. 2017. Aquaculture Site Selection and Zoning in Oman. In J. Aguilar-Manjarrez, D. Soto & R. Brummett. Aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management under the ecosystem approach to aquaculture. Full document, pp. 271–286. Report ACS18071. Rome, FAO, and World Bank Group, Washington, DC. 395 pp.