6 Conclusion

Despite that the aquaculture industry is at an early stage in Oman, the Government takes all efforts for development and management of the sector in a sustainable manner. Among these efforts are the selection of suitable sites for aquaculture projects, as selection is one of the main criteria for the success and sustainability of any aquaculture project. Different projects were conducted for site selections but these projects were generally in terms of selection and no carrying capacity was determined or size of the site.

A recent initiative was conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to use GIS tools for site selection for marine cage aquaculture, which will enhance and develop the process of selection and produce more detailed data and criteria for the site including the carrying capacity and environmental standards.