Oman’s Ministry of Housing has signed three agreements worth RO66 million ($170.7 million) which will help boost aquaculture production in the Sultanate from 353 tonnes in 2013 to 7,330 tonnes per year, a report said.

The first usufruct agreement Arabian Marine Development Company aims to set up an RO29 million ($75 million) integrated shrimp and sea cucumber farm and a 500-hecatre township in South Sharqiyah, said the Saudi Gazette, citing a local daily.

The project will produce 4,500 tonnes of seafood annually and create 500 jobs, Qasim bin Mohammed al Shizawi, a member of the board of directors of Arabian Marine Deployment, was quoted as saying in the report.

The second usufruct agreement with Al Jazeera Investment Company is aimed at setting up an abalone and grouper RO34.5 million ($89 million) fish farming project spread over 30 hectares in Dhofar, according to the report.

Adnan bin Salah al Ghassani, business development manager at Al Jazeera Investment Company said that the project will produce about 1,500 tonnes of grouper and 1,000 tonnes of abalone every year. “It will meet needs of the local market and the rest will be for export," he said.

Meanwhile, Knowledge Modern Technologies Company has been granted a technical licence which allows it to start production of grouper fish in South Sharqiyah at a cost of RO2.5 million ($6.5 million).