OFC signs commercial fishing deal with Irish company

Oman Fisheries Company (OFC) has signed a commercial fishing agreement with Irish company Atlantic Dawn, one of the leading firms specialising in catching small pelagic fish.

'Oman Fisheries Company is pleased to announce to its shareholders that a commercial fishing agreement has been reached with Atlantic Dawn in May 2022, one of the leading companies in small pelagic, for a period of three years,' OFC said in a disclosure to the Muscat Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

As per the agreement, both partners will aim to utilise the fishing quotas granted to Oman Fisheries Company by the Ministry of Agricultural, Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources in order to secure sustainable supplies and enhance export operations.

'Accordingly, Atlantic Dawn will bring small pelagic fishing vessel targeting 30,000 metric tonnes of small pelagic that, if achieved, will result in improvement in financial performance and margins,' Oman Fisheries Company said.

It is anticipated that the [Atlantic Dawn] ships will start fishing in the Omani waters by the next fishing season in 2022, the company added.

Atlantic Dawn specialises in catching pelagic fish – abundant shoaling species such as herring, mackerel and sardines that swim in open seas.

The company's catching vessels engage in both mid-water trawling and purse seining techniques, as per the information on its website.

First quarter profits jump

Oman Fisheries Company reported a group net profit of RO2.324mn for the first quarter of 2022, a sharp jump against a net profit of RO75,252 reported in the same period of 2021.

The company achieved consolidated turnover of RO3.849mn from operations and RO2.647mn from other sources of income in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year turnover of RO3.673mn from operations and RO159,000 from other sources of income.

During the first quarter of this year, Oman Fisheries Company completed the sale of its subsidiary Al-Ameen Stores & Refrigeration and made a one time capital gain of RO2.6mn on this transaction.

Gulf Japan Food Fund, an international private equity fund focusing on the food and beverage industry, became the largest shareholder in Oman Fisheries Company by acquiring 31.4 per cent of its shares.

On the procurement side, Oman Fisheries Company procured 8,348 tonnes of fish from its own sources as well as partner SMEs in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 9,721 tonnes procured during the same period in 2021.