Royal Decree No.20/2019 promulgating the Law on Living Aquatic Wealth.

This Law consisting of 64 articles aims at protecting, developing and strengthening controls on the live aquatic wealth in the Sultanate. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries shall manage the related exploitation, investment and supervision and all the activities related to living water resources have to be authorized or licensed in coordination with the aforementioned Ministry. In particular the Ministry (i) shall cooperate with the concerned authorities in the neighboring countries and the international organizations to develop a joint plan for the optimum exploitation of living aquatic resources; (ii) encourages scientific researches on living aquatic resources, to be also conducted in fishing waters; (iii) provides financial and technical support to the living aquatic sector in order to develop it and increase its revenues; (iv) shall establish and manage marine fishing ports and establish the conditions and controls regulating them; (v) prepares a special register for fishing vessel and artisanal fishing boats that are licensed to fish; and (vi) determines the prohibited fishing areas.
The Law prohibits (i) the use of fishing methods harmful to the marine environment, or in any way possible to affect the balance of vegetation and environment at sea; (ii) actions that can cause pollution or destruction of the marine environment, dumping of waste from laboratories and factories, untreated water, chemical and petroleum materials or ship oils; and (iii) the use of toxic substances, explosives, chemicals, electric methods or weapons in fishing.
As for artisanal fishing, the Law states that the Ministry works for its development and training of artisanal fishermen. It is necessary (i) a fishing license and license of the boat or the ship; (ii) land the living aquatic resources in the fishing ports or landing sites determined by the Ministry; (iii) provide safe marine safety equipment and fishing trip requirements on the boat; (iv) provide all the data and information requested by the Ministry; and (v) place the license plate in a prominent position on both sides of the boat. The Law provides also for coastal fishing and commercial fishing and establishes that foreign fishing vessels have to comply with the Omani technical specifications and the quality control requirements for the type of fishing and to obtain the necessary licenses from the competent authorities.
Regarding aquaculture, the Ministry works to (i) promote the establishment of aquaculture farms; (ii) supervise them; (iii) provide them with technical assistance; (iv) identify sites and areas suitable for their establishment in coordination with the competent authorities; and (v) issue the related licenses. It is prohibited farming aquatic organisms not found in the Omani environment without the Ministry permit.
Activities related to living aquatic resources are as follows (i) processing, manufacturing, drying and smoking of live aquatic resources; (ii) transfer and marketing of living aquatic resources; (iii) cooling, freezing and storage of living aquatic resources; (iv) export and import of living aquatic resources and their products; and (v) aquaculture. To engage the aforementioned activities it is necessary to obtain a license from the Ministry.
The living aquatic resources and their products, either exported, imported or in transit, shall be subject to the veterinary quarantine procedures.