MUSCAT: The lobster fishing season will begin from Tuesday, February 28 in the governorates of Dhofar, Al Wusta, and South Al Sharqiyah. The season usually lasts for three months from the beginning of March to May every year.
 
The lobster fishing season is of economic and social importance to the fishermen living in the coastal areas and extending on the coastal strip of the Arabian Sea.

Salem bin Sultan Al-Araimi, Director of the Department of Agricultural, Fisheries and Water Resources in the Wilayat of Jalan Bani Buhassan, says in 2021’s lobster fishing season, positive economic indicators were recorded in terms of landing quantities and the sizes of lobster were caught. The Sultanate of Oman’s production of lobster in 2020 season has reached 950 tons.

Compared to 1,049 tons in 2019, Al Wusta Governorate ranked first with 430 tons in terms of landed lobster catch, and its prices range between OMR 4 and OMR 5 per kilogram, depending on the amount of landing, supply and demand.

He explained that lobster is consumed locally and internationally. The Sultanate of Oman exports lobster to Gulf countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and to some Asian and European countries as well.

He stressed that the ministry has undertaken monitoring efforts to limit the encroachments on lobster fish represented by the coastal control teams in the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, stressing the importance of the fishermen’s cooperation to preserve fish wealth, adhere to the fishing seasons and abide by the period of banning lobster fishing during the breeding period from the beginning of June of each year to the end of the year. February .

The coasts of the Sultanate of Oman are characterised by a variety of marine resources and an active economic movement. Among the most prominent fishing seasons in the Omani seas are the lobster fishing season, the shrimp fishing season, and the kingfish and squid fishing season.