Wusta tops in fish landing; total catch rises 4.7% in Dec

MUSCAT: The total quantity of fish landed in the Sultanate reached 579,184 tonnes by the end of December 2019 compared to 552,995 tonnes during the same period of 2018, which is a rise of 4.7 per cent, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Traditional fishing practices in the Sultanate contributed to 555,209 tonnes of fish until the end of December 2019, constituting a rise of 1.2 per cent over 548,672 tonnes in 2018. The total value of the fish stock was RO 302.67 million in 2019, representing a growth of 13.1 per cent over RO 267.72 million in 2018.

The Governorate of Al Wusta had the highest fish landing at 206,697 tonnes, followed by the Governorate of South Al Sharqiyah at 144,458 tonnes, and Dhofar at 74,382 tonnes. The quantity of fish landed in the governorates of North and South Al Batinah was 67,808 tonnes, and the quantity in Musandam was 37,599 tonnes. The landed quantity in Governorate of Muscat stood at 24,264 tonnes.

According to fish landing by species, the largest quantity of fish landed by the end of December 2019 comprised small pelagic fish at 329,889 tonnes, compared to 338,812 tonnes at the end of 2019, a decrease of 2.6 per cent. The quantity of large pelagic fish rose by 12.4 per cent to reach 113,325 tonnes by the end of December 2019 compared to 100,820 tonnes by the end of 2018. The quantity of demersal fish landed reached 86,767 tonnes, an increase of 10.1 per cent compared to December 2018 when it was 78,810 tonnes.

Meanwhile, there was a decline in the quantity of sharks and rays by 40.7 per cent and crustaceans and molluscs by 9 per cent.

Coastal fishing and commercial fishing contributed to about 3,921 tonnes and 20,054 tonnes of total fish landings, respectively, by the end of December 2019.