ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: A fishery for Holothuria scabra recently developed in a small area of the Eastern Coast of the Sultanate of Oman. The area covered by the fisheries is limited to a single shallow embayment only 320 km2 in Mahout Bay and involves approximately 400 fishers, and around 50% of them are women. The fishing season (October to May) in 2005 was the first officially on records. However, anecdotal evidence suggests a low level of exploitation since the early 1970s although catch and export data for this period are unavailable. Average size of individuals collected in 2005 varied between 170 and 200 mm in length. The total biomass at the time was estimated at 1500 tons (fresh weight). The following year at least 14.5 tons of processed H. scabra were exported towards the United Arab Emirates, corresponding to approximately 145 tons or around 10% of the recorded biomass. Interviews with fishermen and traders, who remain in collection boats following the fishers, revealed that the CPU for sandfish was around 100 individuals h−1 in 2005. The CPU had declined to 10-20 individuals h−1 by 2007 indicating significant pressure on the resource. Over the same timeframe, the value of an average sized H. scabra, which was OR 0.1 (US$ 0.25) in 2005, increased to OR 1.5 (US$ 3.75) and still climbs. Concomitantly fishers have commenced targeting the less valuable H. atra in large numbers, which command market prices of OR 0.2 (US$ 0.5). Finally, an examination of the processed specimen for sale showed the presence of a significant number of very small individuals (<5 cm processed corresponding to around 10 cm live length). These concurring evidences suggest a rapid decline of the population of H. scabra in Mahout Bay while indicating building pressure on H. atra.
