Lobster fishing season 2017 comes to an end in Oman

Energy Saturday 06/May/2017 16:18 PM
By: Times News Service
Lobster fishing season 2017 comes to an end in Oman

Ja'alan Bani Bu Hassan: Oman's Lobster Fishing Season 2017 has ended.
The season ended last Sunday in all the governorates of the Sultanate.
This is the first season of sea fishing set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for two months each year from early March to the end of April. Other fishing seasons will follow for many marine resources in the coming months.
The Lobster fishing season is one of the most important seasons for many fishermen who make a good economic return during the season.
Omani waters are abundant in demersal, pelagic and crustaceans, which represent a great wealth and are characterised by high nutritional value and high prices in local and international markets.
These fishermen annually fish lobster in the coastal wilayats of the governorates of (Dhofar, Al Wusta and South A'Sharqiyah) overlooking the Arabian Sea.
These governorates enjoy marine sites rich in lobster due to the nature of the Arabian Sea and its distinctive marine biodiversity where the lobster live between rocks and coral reefs.
The fishing seasons are applied in accordance with the Fishing Law in order to preserve the marine resources and to reproduce them in all kinds. Fishing seasons represent economic, social and cultural importance for the residents of the coastal areas in the governorates.
The seasons vary between fishing (Lobster, squid, shrimp and Kingfish).
Salim bin Sultan al-Oraimi, Director of Fish Development Department in Ja'alan Bani Bu Ali said that positive economic indicators were recorded in terms of quantities of production and sizes of lobsters that were caught this year.
He added in a statement to ONA that the Sultanate's production of lobster during the last year 2016 according to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries reached 485 tonnes compared to 416 tonnes during 2015, an increase of 69 tonnes.
He added that the Governorate of Dhofar ranked first in terms of quantity of fishing lobster in 2016 that estimated at 285 tonnes followed by the Governorate
of South A'Sharqiyah with 95 tonnes and Al Wusta with 87 tonnes.
Lobster has a good purchasing value ranging from OMR4 to 5 per kilogram. This natural wealth is located in the area adjacent to the Arabian Sea from the Wilayat of Dhalkut in the Governorate of Dhofar to Ras Al Hadd in the Governorate of South A'Sharqiyah.