Shrimp season starts next week

Muscat: Shrimp fishing season is to start next week on Tuesday, September 8, and will last for three months, until the end of November, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources announced on Sunday.

According to the ministry, the preparations for the season are complete, as several awareness activities have been carried out in this regard. There will be teams to intensify monitoring along the coasts of the three governorates during the season.

The coastal villages in the governorates of Dhofar, Wusta and South Al Sharqiyah are expected to witness an active commercial movement during the season, especially activities related to the fisheries, transport and services sectors.

The ministry, in its announcement, warned artisanal fishermen, all companies, institutions, hotels, restaurants, and individuals whose business is related to buying, selling, trading and exporting shrimp, to adhere to the start and end dates of the shrimp fishing season and to record the quantity of shrimp they have after the end of the season, noting that trading any quantity will not be allowed after the end of the season unless it is registered with the ministry.

The total production of shrimp from artisanal fishing in 2019 amounted to 863 tonnes, with a total value of about RO 2.9 million. Out of last year’s total production, 320 tonnes were exported, while 543 tonnes were locally consumed.

The General Directorate of Fisheries Research in the Ministry, represented by the Center for Marine and Fisheries Sciences and the Centre for Fish Farming, carried out several scientific studies on shrimp fishing equipment and methods as well as on ways to multiply shrimp production on the coasts of the Sultanate.

Moving forward to increase the contribution of the aquaculture sector to the GDP to reach RO 222 million by 2023, the Ministry is working on several projects for fish farming, the most important of which are shrimp and abalone aquaculture using sea cages for some kinds of fish, in addition to the cultivation of seaweed.

Last June, the hugely promising segment of Oman’s burgeoning aquaculture industry was boosted by the signing of a key contract for the establishment of a new shrimp production farm in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate.