The Ministry of Agriculture has announced two periods for this year’s shrimp harvest season in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.

The ministry, which is represented by the Ministry for Fisheries Affairs, has said that the first season will run in the Gulf waters between Aug. 1 and Jan. 31, 2015, while the second season in the Red Sea would kick off on Sept. 1 and end on March 31, 2015.

The Ministry of Agriculture has urged fishermen to comply with the new directives and use legal fishing methods to guarantee resource sustainability.

“Following instructions will increase the shrimp count in commercial fishing areas,” said sources.

The ministry pledged that violators would face legal action.

Around 600 shrimp boats are set to sail out for the shrimp harvest season and market their produce at Qatif’s central fish market, considered the largest in the Middle East.

“We will be able to tell whether shrimp will be available in abundance from the first catch, from which supply and demand dynamics will be determined at the market,” said Jaafer Al-Safwani, head of the Fishermen’s Association in the Eastern Province.

“Fishermen will brace themselves for a second round if no shrimp is caught on the first day,” he said, adding that boats go as far as Kuwait for up to seven days.

“In the last season, the catch went down by 40 percent, causing prices to increase. However, sellers this season expect smaller-sized shrimp to be sold at anywhere between SR400 to SR500 per 30-kg box.”

According to Al-Safwani, the price of medium-sized shrimp is expected to go up to SR600 SR800 a box, while large-sized shrimp could sell for SR1,100 throughout the entire season.

Fishermen try and maximize profits in the shrimp season to pay off expenses and compensate for the losses they may have incurred during the whole of the fishing season.