Science Centres: Fisheries

NIWA’s Taoho Patuawa weighs spotted grunts (Pomadasys commersonii), an abundant commercial species, onboard survey vessel Al Mustaqila 1. (Photo: Peter Marriott, NIWA)

A team of NIWA fisheries scientists has just completed the fourth of five resource assessment surveys for the Oman Ministry of Fisheries Wealth, working in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman. This is the first comprehensive fisheries survey in the area for 18 years.

The five survey voyages are timed to cover all the main seasons, including the biannual monsoons that produce large seasonal variations in fish movement and catches.

Key objectives are to estimate the abundance of demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish on the continental shelf of southern Oman, and of small pelagic (free-swimming) fish. The survey has also extended out to deeper water to assess the lanternfish resource. The area has a rich diversity of fish species, with more than 500 found during the surveys so far. Some species have not been recorded in Omani waters before and some may be new to science.

NIWA is part of a New Zealand consortium in this project, which also involves Omani scientists.