Seasonal and Interannual Variations of Sardine Catches along the Omani Coast

Abstract

Sardines contributed 85 % to the total small pelagic fish landings by Oman, i n 2 0 0 0-2018. Monthly data on sardine catches represented mainly by the Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847) and 19 environmental variables were subjected to the Principal Component Analysis which enabled us to elucidate factors driving seasonal and interannual fluctuations of sardine catches over three main fishery provinces. An increase of the catch and an increase in magnitude of seasonal fluctuations of these catches have been the main trends of the past two decades pronounced in a 30-year time series (1988-2018). The wind speed, sea surface temperature, geostrophic current velocity, number of cyclonic eddies, the El-Niño Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, and large pelagic species (predators on sardines) were the environmental variables which modulated interannual variations of sardine catches along the Omani shelf overlooking the western Arabian Sea.