The total quantity of fish landed in the Sultanate reached 840,378 tons in 2020, comprising an increase of 44.8% comparing to 2019, according to the statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The aquaculture production grew by 24% compared to 2019. The total aquaculture production amounted to 1,307 tons of bream.
Oman's fish exports rose to more than 300,000 tons, a growth rate of 47.3%, with a total value estimated at RO 114,275,600 in 2020.
Artisanal fishing in the Sultanate amounted to 793,419 tons of the total fish production in 2020 comprising a growth of 42.9% compared to the same period in 2019. This is attributed to a rise in the production of pelagic fish, such as tuna and trevally, as well as squid from mollusks category.
The sardine fish topped the list as the highest-produced fish in artisanal fishing for 2020, amounting about 430,130 tons, comprising 54.2% of the total artisanal fishing production, followed by tuna with 68,578 tons (8.6%).
The total commercial fishing production reached about 41,363 tons, a surge of 106.2% compared to 2019. Small trevally fish topped the production by 93.6%, with around 38,715 tons.
The coastal fishing production stood at around 4,289 tons, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2019. In terms of fish species, tuna topped the list in terms of quantity to reach 651 tons, or 15.2% of the total production of fishing vessels. Then came emperor fish, which stood at 462 tons, or 10.8% of the total coastal fishing.
As for marine and freshwater aquaculture, the amount of fish production reached 1,307 tons in 2020, including marine aquaculture for the bream fish production using floating cages. Aquaculture quantities grew by 24% between 2019 and 2020.
On the other hand, fish exports by destination, 22.2% of Oman's fish were exported in 2020 to GCC countries, 0.5% to European countries, 10.2% to the USA, and 67.1% to other countries.
As far as fish exports to the GCC countries are concerned, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came first with 37,952 tons, or 56.8%, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with around 19,969 tons, or 29.9%.
The Kingdom of Bahrain came third, with exports amounting to 4,447 tons, or 6.7%, followed by Qatar, with around 3,783 tons, or 5.7%, and Kuwait with 672 tons, or 1.0%.