Aquaculture is being seriously considered as a promising sustainable industry in the Sultanate of Oman. Fish farming commenced in Oman in 1986, but it was only in 2011 that it became a more commercially driven sector. While worldwide aquaculture production is expected to rise to meet the shortage in capture fisheries, there is a parallel requirement to identify potential threats to the health and welfare of existing aquatic farmed stocks and to take appropriate steps to mitigate them. As aquaculture in Oman is in an early stage of development, it is important to acquire baseline data on the existence and prevalence of aquatic diseases and pathogens to help the Government make policy decisions to develop health management regimes applicable for Omani aquaculture. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate current farming practices of tilapia in Oman, to investigate the bacterial species composition and distribution from different sites in some of the economically important fish species, and to study the characteristics and pathogenicity of Aeromonas species. The current practices were studied for 9 Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) farms from four areas (Al Batinah, Ad Dhahirah, Ad Dakhiliyah and Ash Sharqiyah North) during the period of September to November 2012 by using questionnaires and interviews with the farm owners and staff.

Aquaculture is being seriously considered as a promising sustainable industry in the Sultanate of Oman. Fish farming commenced in Oman in 1986, but it was only in 2011 that it became a more commercially driven sector. While worldwide aquaculture production is expected to rise to meet the shortage ...