Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Blue Water, a subsidiary of Oman Aquaculture Development Company, in cooperation with the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), on Sunday launched a project for breeding and reproduction of finfish in floating cages in the Musandam Governorate.
Fish seeds of European seabream fish species (kofar) were transferred and placed in Musandam, which boasts a natural fish sanctuary and is considered an ideal location for cage aquaculture.
The work at the project began several months ago with the assembling and installation of the floating cages and fishing nets at a bay in Musandam. A suitable place for storing aquafeeds and production equipment will be set up at a location adjoining the project. Fish seeds were placed in the floating cages and provided with aquafeeds on a regular basis until the marketing phase.
The Musandam finfish aquaculture project in floating cages is billed as a solution for continued food production either for local consumption or export.
The project aims to introduce floating cage culture techniques to the fishermen community in the governorate, qualify them, introduce them and urge them to adopt such economic projects, in addition to employing many fishermen and their children from the neighboring villages to work in it with the direct supervision of specialists in the management of fish wealth in Musandam.
The project will collect biological data on the growth of farmed fish in the governorate and link them to physical and chemical changes in the marine environment such as the percentage of oxygen dissolved in water, temperature, current intensity and acidity of the water (pH), which would complete scientific research in the field of fish farming, especially in species of commercial importance in the Sultanate.
