New model of refrigerated fish trucks launched

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on Thursday launched the first model of refrigerated fish product trucks “less than 3 tons” in the Small Truck Support Project funded by the Agricultural and Fisheries Development Fund.

The objective of the project is to raise awareness of the importance of using refrigerated containers in fish trucks by supporting and encouraging their owners to develop their vehicles which will contribute significantly to maintaining the quality of fishery products and increasing their competitiveness in the local and international markets.

Dr. Hamad bin Said al- Oufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said that the ministry is seeking to develop the fish sector by implementing a number of projects and initiatives which reflected the increase in fish production during the successive five-year plans. He added that an increase of about 24% compared to 2016 with a growth rate of about 12% since 2011.

He pointed out that the ministry has taken care to develop fish marketing system by improving the infrastructure of fish markets and rehabilitating them, establishing new markets and issuing legislation and regulating laws that contribute to facilitating investment in this sector, adding that the ministry also increased fish sales outlets (stores) to about 604 shops.

He stressed that the Central Fish Market in Al Felaij has played an important role in balancing the supply and demand of fish and providing them in the local market at reasonable prices, considering that fish trucks constitute an important pillar in the fish marketing system. He added that the number of fleet of fish transport vehicles is currently 4000 cars, 222 of which are equipped with refrigerator, representing only 6%, indicating that it will benefit from this project in its first batch 41 cars for transporting and marketing, owned by full-time Omanis for marketing