3 Institutional and regulatory frameworks

3.1 Institutional Framework

Availability of one governmental organization responsible for management and development of aquaculture is one of the important keys in the successfulness of the aquaculture sector. In Oman, the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries is the main governmental authority responsible for aquaculture development. The Directorate of Aquaculture Development in the Ministry is the main department responsible for aquaculture development and management.

This Directorate is also responsible for authorization, licensing and monitoring of aquaculture projects. The aquaculture centre conducts scientific and experimental researches and disease control of aquaculture projects. The Fish Quality Control Centre is responsible for issuing quality permits for aquaculture products and residue planning. The Directorate of Aquaculture Development coordinates the works regarding the aquaculture between the different departments.
Aquaculture License Procedures All the applications for aquaculture projects are submitted to the Directorate of Aquaculture Development which compiles all the necessary documents for the application. The applications are evaluated by the technical committee which is headed by the Director General of Fisheries Development and contains members from the Directorate of Aquaculture Development, Aquaculture Center, Water Resources Management Centre and Legal Department.

 

 

The recommendations from the technical committee will be raised to the main aquaculture committee for final approval. This committee is headed by the Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries. It contains members from different ministries at the levels of Undersecretaries

Figure 6. Application process for aquaculture projects in Oman.

and Director Generals. These ministries are Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, Ministry of Environment & Climate Affairs, Ministry of Trade & Commerce, Ministry of Transport & Telecommunication, Ministry of Housing, and Ministry of Finance.
If the company gets the approval from the Committee, it will be given a Provisional Aquaculture License (PAL) for one year to complete the feasibility study and EIA study. These studies are reviewed by the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries with EIA and are also reviewed by the Ministry of Environment & Climate Affairs for environmental approval. If the studies are approved, the company will sign a contract with the Ministry of Housing for usufruct right of the land. After that, the company will be given an Operational Aquaculture License (OAL) from the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries. The contract is for 20 years with annual renewal. Figure 6 illustrates the procedures and routes of the applications for aquaculture projects.

3.2 Legal Framework

In Oman, there is a special regulation for aquaculture which is the by-law of aquaculture and quality control of its product (MAF, 2012). This by-law was first issued in 2004 and amended in 2012. It contains about 80 articles in different aspects such as licensing and its requirements, quarantine procedures and quality issues. According to this regulation, a company can’t start any aquaculture project without permission from the competent authority (Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries). The regulation also states the requirements for quarantine and prevents the culture of exotic species without permission from a competent authority. The rules state the works of the aquaculture committee and the flow of the applications from the private sector. For licensing issue, the laws describe the requirements for the license and the information needed by the Ministry to process this license, such as regular information about the company, site for the project, and species to be cultured. Table 1 shows some of the main laws and regulations that control aquaculture activities in Oman.

Table 1. Main laws and legislations related to Aquaculture in Oman.