The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries said that the amount of fish landing by the artisanal, coastal and commercial fishing sectors increased in the first quarter of 2020 by 19.4 percent to reach 202,099 tons, compared to 169,196 tons in the first quarter of 2019. Artisanal fishing accounted for 95.5 percent of the total fish landing in that period of 2020. It accounted in 2019 for 95.9 percent and amounted to 555,209 tons of the total amount of fish landing, which reached 579,184 tons.
The National Centre for Statistics and Information quoted, in its statistical bulletin of April, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries saying that preliminary figures indicated that the amount of fish landing by the artisanal fishing sector increased in the first quarter of 2020 by 16.2 percent and reached 192,913 tons, compared to 166,078 tons in the same period of 2019, with a total value of RO90,261,000 , compared to RO79,776,000, an increase of 13.1 percent in the total value. The Governorate of Al Wusta topped the governorates in fish-landing in the artisanal fishing sector during the first quarter of 2020 with 42.4 percent. The quantity of fish in the three coastal wilayats of the governorate (Al Jazir, Duqm, Mahout) reached 81,810 tons of fish, with a rise of 9.3 percent for the first quarter of 2020.
The quantity of fish landing in the governorate in January reached 25,624 tons. It rose in February to 28,493 tons, and slightly decreased in March to reach 27,693 tons. The Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah came in second place with 60,411 tons of fish landing, representing 31.3 percent of the total fish landed in the governorate. The amount of fish landing in the governorate during the first quarter of 2020 increased by 27.9 percent compared to the same period of 2019. The amount of fish landed in the governorate in January reached 17,828 tons. It rose in February to 23,154 tons and decreased in March to 19,429 tons.
The contribution of artisanal fishing sector in the Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah in 2020 constituted 26 percent of the total fish landing in the governorates of the Sultanate and amounted to 144,458 tons. The artisanal fishing sector in the Governorate of Dhofar contributed 9.6 percent in the first quarter of 2020, with 18,464 tons of fish landing, compared to 16,380 tons in the same period in 2019, an increase of 12.7%. In 2019, it contributed 13.4 percent, with 74,382 tons. The amount of fish landing in the governorate in January was 5914 tons, as it rose to 6575 tons in February, and decreased in March to 5975 tons. In the Governorates of North and South Al Batinah, the fish landing during the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 17,304 tons, representing 9 percent of the total amount of fish landing in the governorates, an increase of 30.4 percent over the same period of last year, which reached 13,273 tons.
The amount of fish landing in both governorates in January reached 5283 tons, increased in February to 4645 tons, and hiked in March to 7376 tons. The contribution of the artisanal fishing sector in both governorates in 2019 amounted to 12.2 percent, reaching 67,808 tons. The quantity of fish landing in the Governorate of Muscat increased in the first quarter of 2020 by 4,9 percent, reached 5272 tons, compared to 5025 tons last year. The month of March witnessed the largest amount of fish landing in the past three months, amounting to 2055 tons, compared to 1433 tons in February and 1784 tons in January. The quantity of fish landing in the governorate in 2019 amounted to 24,264 tons, representing 4.8 percent of the total fish landing in the governorates.
In order to provide fish in the local market and achieve food security in the Sultanate, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is implementing multiple programs and projects to develop the capabilities of artisanal fishermen in order to raise their performance efficiency in the fish sector, increase production in the fishing profession and encourage them to preserve their ancient profession. These projects and programs cover also sons of artisanal fishermen as they play important role in passing on the fishing profession generation after generation. For this regard, the ministry organized a number of training seminars for the sons of fishermen and received a great reaction and response from them, which contribute to the succession of this profession. On the other hand, the statistical bulletin of the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI) indicated that the quantity of fish in the commercial fishing sector witnessed a significant increase in the first quarter of 2020 by 386.4 percent, compared to the same period in 2019, amounted to 7585 tons, compared to 1559 tons in the first quarter of 2019, which represented 3,75 percent of the total amount of fish landing in the first three months of 2020.
The commercial fishing sector contributed 3.5 percent of the total amount of fish landing in the governorates of the Sultanate in 2019, with 20,054 tons of fish. January witnessed the highest amount of fish landing in the first quarter of 2020 for this sector, amounting to 3,932 tons. The amount decreased in February to 2128 tons, then to 1525 tons in March.
With regard to coastal fishing, the amount of fish landing by this sector increased by 2.8 percent and amounted to 1602 tons, compared to 1558 tons in the first quarter of 2019, including 626 tons in January, 507 tons in February, decreased to 469 tons in March. The quantity of fish landing by this sector in 2019 reached 3921 tons, representing 0.7 percent of the total amount of fish landing in the governorates of the Sultanate. The NCSI statistical bulletin indicated that the total value of the fish landing by the Artisanal fishing sector amounted to RO90,261,000 in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 13.1 percent over the value recorded during the same period in 2019, amounting to RO79,776,000. The total value in 2019 reached RO 302,679,000.ONA