The total quantity of fish landed in the Sultanate reached 202,099 tons by the end of March 2020 compared to 169,196 tons during the same period of 2019, which is a rise of 19.4%, according to statistics released by the NCSI.
Traditional fishing practices in the Sultanate contributed to 192,913 tons of fish till the end of March 2020, constituting a rise of 16.2% over 166,078 tons in 2019. The total value of the fish stock was OMR90.261 million in 2020, representing a growth of 13.1% over OMR79.77 million in 2019.
The Governorate of Al-Wusta had the highest fish landing at 81,810 tons, followed by the Governorate of Ash-Sharqiah South at 60,411 tons, and Dhofar at 18,464 tons. The quantity of fish landed in the governorates of North and South Batinah was 17,304 tons, and the quantity in Musandam was 9,651 tons. The landed quantity in Governorate of Muscat stood at 5,272 tons.
According to fish landing by species, the largest quantity of fish landed by the end of March 2020 comprised small pelagic fishes at 118,804 tons, compared to 118,526 tons at the end of March 2019, a rise of 0.2%. The quantity of large pelagic fish rose by 101.1% to reach 41,512 tons by the end of March 2020 compared to 20,640 tons by the end of March 2019. The quantity of demersal fish landed reached 27,516 tons, an increase of 19% compared to March 2019 when it was 23,128 tons. The quantity of sharks and rays was up by 66.8% and crustaceans and molluscs by 14.1%.
Coastal fishing and commercial fishing contributed to about 1,602 tons and 7,585 tons of total fish landings, respectively, by the end of March 2020.