The Omani government has planned to set up in Sur a major bio-marine industrial cluster, anchored by the nation’s first ever land-based fish farm, as part of its efforts to kick-start the development of a successful aquaculture industry in Oman, said a report.

The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), which administers the nation’s industrial parks and logistics hubs, has earmarked an 8,000 sq m plot at Sur Industrial Estate for the establishment of the project, which unlike conventional aquaculture farms, will be developed onshore for the rearing of marine fish, said the Oman Daily Observer report.

Significantly, Shumookh Investment & Services, the investment arm of PEIE, is supporting the venture in line with its mandate to stimulate private investment inflows into the industrial parks, it added.

A subsidiary named Knowledge Advance Technology (Kat), with Shumookh Investment (10 per cent) and local investor Advance Business Solutions (90 per cent) as shareholders, will develop the proposed integrated aquaponics project.

The centrepiece of the Sur venture, according to PEIE officials, is a Recirculating Aquaculture System (Ras), which is expected to be the first of its kind in the sultanate. Ras are essentially land-based fish farms that allow for all year round control and delivery of fish.

Additionally, the project is expected to stimulate investments in an array of upstream and downstream processing and value-added opportunities, notably in pharmaceutical related ventures.

Officials envision the eventual growth of a full-fledged bio-marine industrial cluster emerging from these activities and investments, added the report.