Fishermen in the Governorates of Dhofar, Al Wusta, and South A'Sharqiyah have started fishing lobster since the beginning of March. The fishing season lasts for three months. The coasts of these governorates that overlook the Arabian Sea have locations that are rich with lobster.
The Sultanate's coasts are famous for lobster. Fishing lobster is one of the economic activities that Omani fishermen depend on as their source of income. The fishermen hope that this year’s production of lobster will be good, according to marine indicators and weather forecast.
Juma bin Saleh al-Kasbi, Director of the Fisheries Development Department in Ja'alan Bani Bu Hassan said," Statistically, the last year’s production of lobster was good in comparison with other years. The 2019 production reached (958) tons with a total value of about RO4.8 million, compared to (473) tons, with a value of RO2.1 million in 2018. With the start of the season for this year, we expect that the purchasing value of lobster is good, ranging from RO4 to 5 per kilogram."
Al-Kasbi told Oman News Agency (ONA), "Lobster production is largely consumed locally due to the high demand for its health benefits. The local consumption quantities in 2019 were estimated at 713 tons compared to 382 tons in 2018. Part of the production is exported. 245 tons were exported in 2019 in comparison with 91 tons in 2018.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has set dates for lobster season in order to organize its fishing in the Omani seas. It recently issued a ministerial decision to change the period of the fishing season from two months (the first of March to the end of April) from every year to three months, first of March to the end of May every year.
The ban on lobster fishing begins in the period starting from the first day of June of each year, and continues until the last day of February of the following year in order to preserve and sustain the marine wealth, because this period is the period of fertilization and natural reproduction according to research studies.