PHOTO
View of a stateless fishing trawler which was intercepted by Navy personnel operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), where more than 1 million rounds of 7.62mm, 25,000 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition; nearly 7,000 proximity fuses for rockets; and over 2,100 kilograms of propellant used to launch rocket propelled grenades were seized in the gulf of Oman in Arabian Sea, in this handout photo taken December 1, 2022 and released by the U.S. Naval Forces December 3, 2022. U.S. Navy Central Command/Handout via REUTERS Image used for illustrative purpose.
Muscat – Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) has lifted the ban on fishing abalone this year for a ten-day period in November.
H E Dr Saud bin Hamoud bin Ahmed al Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, has issued Ministerial Decision No 181/2024 amending executive regulations of the Marine Fishing and Aquatic Resources Protection Law.
The decision establishes that harvesting and collecting abalone is prohibited throughout the year, except during the period from November 3 to November 12.
The decision was issued on September 8 and took effect on September 9.
With the number of abalone dwindling, MAFWR has been imposing bans on fishing abalone from time to time. It had banned harvesting and trading in abalone in the last four years from 2020 to 2023.
MAFWR had lifted a two-year ban on abalone fishing for a brief period in 2019.
The abalone catch has dwindled over the years in Omani waters with yearly catch hovering between 50-55 tonnes. It went up to a high of 149 tonnes in 2011, when fishing of abalone reopened after a moratorium of three years.
The ministry stated that Oman’s abalone stocks continue to deplete as a result of divers’ malpractices during the fishing season, as well as fishing outside the season.
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