Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) plans to set up a fleet of 300 mechanised fishing vessels (MFVs) to support the long-term development of the sultanate’s increasingly vital fisheries sector, a report said.

The move is part of a bigger plan which ultimately aims to establish a modern fishery industry underpinned by up-to-date fishery harbour infrastructure, said an Oman Daily Observer report.

The 300 medium-size mechanised fishing vessels will range in length from 14 to 30 m, and will primarily operate in the sultanate’s offshore waters that currently lie beyond the reach of the thousands of fibre-glass reinforce boats (FRBs) currently make up the bulk of the nation’s traditional fishing fleet, it added.
    
According to officials, the strategy also envisages investment in the construction of new fishery harbours, modernisation of existing harbours, and establishment of new fish landing centres, auction areas and idle-berthing facilities at key locations all along the country’s coastline.

MoAF stated that it has anticipated that the fishing craft will operate from these nodal centres to (contribute) to organised and hygienic fish landings.  

The identification of the above-mentioned projects is in addition to the fishery harbour projects that are already commissioned or under construction or in the pipeline for implementation during the current eight Five-Year Plan, added the Ministry.

Critical to the success of this strategy, the Ministry says, is the development of a modern Omani fishing fleet capable of exploiting offshore fish resources on a sustainable basis, beyond the range of the traditional fleet (skiffs and dhows), added the report.