A commercial shrimp farming project was launched at Quroom Farm in Jaalan Bani Bu Hassan, in the Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah in Oman.
The 20-million Riyali Oman project, spread over an area of 500 hectares (5 square km), is set to have a total capacity of 4,600 tons per annum by the time it is completed in 2023, Omani media reports said.
In 2022, it is expected to have an output of 2,100 tons. The farm, which meets high standards locally and internationally, is supplied with seawater through a 300-meter channel, a processing unit and a drainage corridor to take wastewater back to the sea.
Quroon Farm will serve as a springboard for academics and researchers in the field of aquaculture and, eventually, the setting up of a training center for marine life farming and related security procedures, the reports said.
The project has been one of the earliest investments of Oman Fisheries Company, affiliated with the Oman Investment Authority.
The farm paves the way for other vital projects that will come up along the coast of the Arabian Sea in the governorates of South A’Sharqiyah and Al Wusta. It is carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources and Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-Up Unit.
The shrimp farm’s launch fits with the goals of Oman Vision 2040, which is the country’s strategy of development and economic growth. It seeks to augment the rate of Gross Domestic Product and the contribution of non-oil sectors to the economy.