The Status Of Qatar's Fisheries During 1980-1990

Abstract

The present study was conducted to overview the status of Qatar's fisheries during 1980-1990, using the fishery statistics data. issued annually by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture, Qatar. Annual local catch, market patterns, annual revenue and contribution of the commercially important fish families to the total catch, have been analyzed. The study demonstrated that the annual local production has sharply increased in recent years. This has resulted in reducing the amounts of fish imported from neighbouring countries from 30% of the total consumption in 1986 to only 6.3% in 1989. The study also showed that 8 families; Lethrinidae, Carangidae, Serranidae, Scombridae, Sparidae, Siganidae, Lutjanidae, and Sphyraenidae (in descending order) contributed about 78% of the total local catch and 76% of the total annual fisheries revenue during the mentioned period. The annual catch pattern, demand, price, revenue and rank of each family have been critically discussed.