Shrimp in Saudi waters
What the encyclopedia’s register holds of shrimp today, in what state it is held, and what it does not carry yet.
The state of shrimp in the register
Published: 9 shrimp species; published facts: 173.
9published shrimp species
173published shrimp facts
Published species
Species are arranged by scientific classification: family, genus, species. Each species has its own page with its sources. Where no documented Arabic name exists, the scientific name alone is shown.
PENAEIDAE › Metapenaeus
Metapenaeus affinis
HWT-SHRIMP-0007
Metapenaeus monoceros
speckled shrimp
HWT-SHRIMP-0002
Metapenaeus stebbingi
HWT-SHRIMP-0008
PENAEIDAE › Penaeus
Wild marine shrimp fishing seasons and bans
How to read these tables
Each row is an announcement or report for one place and one year, as its source stated it; it is not a rule in force today. A regulated fishing season is not a spawning period and not an abundance peak. No end date is calculated from a duration, no ban from the months left over, and what was said of one area is not carried to another. These are wild-caught marine shrimp, not farmed shrimp, and they belong to the fishery, not to any single species.
The Red Sea
| Year | Kind | What the source states | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Fishing season Press report |
Shrimp fishing season 2026, Jazan region: the text of a Saudi Press Agency item (Jazan, 1 September 2026) as published by newspapers, among them UrduPoint and Sabq, says that from 1 September the Red Sea waters off the Jazan coast receive the shrimp fishing season, which runs seven months to the end of March 2027, with more than 120 fishing boats. The figures are the agency’s own narrative, not a quotation of a named official, and the text gives no day number for the end. | Jazan region |
موسم الروبيان بجازان.. 7 أشهر تعزز استدامة المصايد وتدعم الأمن الغذائي UrduPoint (copy of an SPA wire item, dateline «جيزان (وكالة الأنباء السعودية – 01 سبتمبر 2026)»)
Lead paragraph (dateline 1 September 2026) · 2026-09-01 جازان تفتح موسم صيد الروبيان بأكثر من 120 قارب حتى مارس 2027 صحيفة سبق
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Lead paragraph (1 September 2026) · 2026-09-01 |
| 2026 | Fishing season Press report |
Shrimp fishing season 2026, Al-Qunfudhah: the newspaper Aqlam Al-Khabar (1 September 2026) reports that the Ministry’s office in Al-Qunfudhah governorate announced the start of the shrimp fishing season in the Red Sea waters “for six months”, after the end of the ban period. The report gives no start day and no end date. The Jazan reports of the same day say seven months to the end of March 2027; the two statements are not reconciled, no end date is inferred for Al-Qunfudhah, and the point stays pending until the office’s original announcement is found. | Al-Qunfudhah governorate |
بيئة القنفذة تعلن انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان بالمحافظة دعماً لاستدامة الثروة البحريّة أقلام الخبر (newspens.sa)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Opening and second paragraphs (1 September 2026) · 2026-09-01 |
| 2026 | Ban Press report |
The ban at Al-Qunfudhah, 2026: Al-Eqtisad newspaper (its page metadata dates it to 12 May 2026) reports that the Ministry’s office in Al-Qunfudhah carried out inspection rounds of fishing boats “coinciding with the start of the shrimp fishing ban period”. The newspaper gives no start or end date for the ban, so this text does not establish a 1 April date for 2026. | Al-Qunfudhah governorate |
بدء موسم حظر الروبيان.. بيئة القنفذة تكثّف جولاتها الرقابية على مراكب الصيد صحيفة الاقتصاد (aleqtsad.org)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 First paragraph (page metadata 12 May 2026) · 2026-05-12 |
| 2026 | Licences Press report |
Licences for the 2026 season in Jazan: according to the branch’s general manager as relayed by Sabq (1 September 2026) from the Saudi Press Agency, seasonal licences are issued in coordination with the relevant bodies through the “Nama” platform, and the report mentions fishing with the legal fishing methods without detail. The platform’s service page says the seasonal shrimp fishing permit request is for fishers who hold a fishing licence and own a registered boat. These sources give no fees and no gear. | Jazan region |
جازان تفتح موسم صيد الروبيان بأكثر من 120 قارب حتى مارس 2027 صحيفة سبق
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph naming the Nama platform (1 September 2026) · 2026-09-01 |
| 2025 | Ban Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing ban on the Madinah region coast, 2025: the Ministry’s Madinah branch announced (Saudi Press Agency, 10 April 2025) a ban on shrimp fishing until the end of next August, alongside the ban on Nagel and Tarradi fishing until 31 May 2025. The text gives no start date for the shrimp ban. | Madinah region coast (Red Sea) |
بيئي / فرع "البيئة" بالمدينة المنورة يُعلن عن حظر صيد أسماك الناجل والطرادي بساحل المنطقة لمدة شهرين Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Opening paragraph (dateline 10 April 2025) · 2025-04-10 |
| 2024 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season in the Jazan region, 2024: the Saudi Press Agency (31 August 2024) says the season starts “tomorrow” and runs 7 months ending at the end of March 2025. The agency gives no day number. | Jazan region |
عام / انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في جازان غداً Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 31 August 2024) · 2024-08-31 |
| 2024 | Licences Official announcement, as relayed |
Licences for the 2024 season in Jazan: the same report says the branch coordinated with the Agricultural Services Company to complete the seasonal shrimp fishing licences, that the fishing boats number more than 120, and that fishing uses the legal fishing methods. No gear detail is given. | Jazan region |
عام / انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في جازان غداً Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 3–4 (dateline 31 August 2024) · 2024-08-31 |
| 2023 | Fishing season Press report |
Shrimp fishing season 2023 on the Red Sea coast (Jeddah): the newspaper Sobra (3 September 2023), copying a Saudi Press Agency item, quotes the director of the Jeddah fisheries unit (Eng. Ibrahim Al-Maliki) saying the season runs from 1 September this year to 31 March 2024, after a ban that lasted 5 months. The original page on the agency’s site was not found. Okaz newspaper reports a six-month ban for Al-Qunfudhah in the same year; the two figures are not reconciled. | Jeddah / Makkah region |
بدء موسم صيد الروبيان على سواحل البحر الأحمر صحيفة صبرا (نسخة من خبر لوكالة الأنباء السعودية)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 First two paragraphs (3 September 2023) · 2023-09-03 |
| 2023 | Fishing season Press report |
The 2023 season at Al-Qunfudhah according to Okaz newspaper (1 September 2023): 28 fishing boats left the fishers’ harbour at Al-Qunfudhah, marking the start of the shrimp fishing season in the Red Sea, which starts on 1 September after the ban that lasted six months. The sentence is the reporter’s, not a quote from an official, and it gives no end date. The Jeddah unit gives 5 months for the ban; the two figures are not reconciled. | Al-Qunfudhah governorate | Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 |
| 2023 | Ban Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing ban on the Madinah region coast, 2023: the Ministry’s Madinah branch announced (Saudi Press Agency, 16 May 2023) “the continuation of the ban on shrimp fishing from 1 April until the end of August, five months”. This is the Madinah branch’s scope; it is not generalised to the rest of the Red Sea coast. | Madinah region coast (Red Sea) |
عام / بيئة المدينة المنورة : حظر صيد أسماك الترباني في البحر الأحمر Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Body of the report (dateline 16 May 2023) · 2023-05-16 |
| 2022 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season in the Jazan region, 2022–2023: the Ministry’s Jazan branch launched the season, and the Saudi Press Agency (2 September 2022) says it “begins on the first of September every year” and lasts 7 months, with about 121 boats taking part on its first day. This is the strongest wording found for a recurring start, and it concerns Jazan only; it gives no end date and no ban. | Jazan region |
عام / فرع البيئة بجازان يدشن انطلاقة موسم صيد الربيان Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraphs 1–2 (dateline 2 September 2022) · 2022-09-02 |
| 2020 | Ban Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing ban after the 2019 season, Red Sea: the director of marine fisheries (Eng. Khalid Al-Shayea) said in the same report that the ban would begin on 1 April 2020, to give the shrimp a chance to reproduce and to preserve its stock. The report gives no end date for the ban. He said violators face a penalty and a fine of up to SAR 10,000 (as stated in the 2019 announcement, not a current penalty schedule). This is the only official text found that gives a ban start date for the whole coast. | Saudi Red Sea coast (whole coast) |
عام / "البيئة" تعلن انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في البحر الأحمر Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraphs 2–3 (dateline 27 August 2019) · 2019-08-27 |
| 2019 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2019, Red Sea coast of the Kingdom: the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture announced, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency (27 August 2019), that the season begins on 1 September and ends on 31 March 2020, seven months. | Saudi Red Sea coast (whole coast) |
عام / "البيئة" تعلن انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في البحر الأحمر Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 27 August 2019) · 2019-08-27 |
| 2018 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2018, Red Sea coast of the Kingdom: according to the Saudi Press Agency (26 August 2018), the Ministry’s general director of marine fisheries (Eng. Khalid Al-Shayea) said the season begins on 1 September 2018 and continues to the end of 31 March 2019. An announcement for one year. | Saudi Red Sea coast (whole coast) |
عام / البيئة : بدء موسم صيد الروبيان في البحر الأحمر في سبتمبر القادم Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 26 August 2018) · 2018-08-26 |
The Arabian Gulf (Eastern Province)
| Year | Kind | What the source states | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Fishing season Press report |
Dates of the 2026 season according to the press and a government body’s account: Okaz newspaper (29 July 2026) and the X account of the Eastern Province Development Authority (26 July 2026) relay the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture’s announcement that the season runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 January 2027. This is not the Ministry’s own text and the original announcement was not found; the Authority is a government body other than the Ministry. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
«الروبيان» يعود للأسواق.. الموسم ينطلق أول أغسطس صحيفة عكاظ
Second paragraph (29 July 2026) · 2026-07-29 هيئة تطوير المنطقة الشرقية on X — 26 يوليو 2026 (إعلان موسم صيد الروبيان) Eastern Province Development Authority (official account on X; a government body, not the Ministry)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Post text and timestamp (26 July 2026) · 2026-07-26 |
| 2026 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2026, Arabian Gulf (official wording): the Saudi Press Agency (4 August 2026) says the Ministry’s Eastern Province branch announced the start of the season in Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf at the beginning of August, continuing until the end of January 2027. The agency’s wording is by month, without a day number. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / نشاط اقتصادي لسوق الأسماك بالشرقية.. مع بدء موسم صيد الروبيان Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Second paragraph (dateline 4 August 2026) · 2026-08-04 |
| 2025 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2025, Eastern Province: the Saudi Press Agency (21 July 2025) says the branch completed its preparations for the season, which falls on 1 August of this year and lasts six months. The report gives no end date. (The agency calls it the “fourth edition”, its own label.) | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / 710 مراكب صيد في المنطقة الشرقية تستعد لانطلاق موسم الروبيان 2025 Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 21 July 2025) · 2025-07-21 |
| 2025 | Ban Official announcement, as relayed |
The ban before the 2025 season: the same report says the Ministry applies a fishing ban of 6 months before the season starts, to allow the shrimp and fish stock to renew. The report gives no start or end date for the ban. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / 710 مراكب صيد في المنطقة الشرقية تستعد لانطلاق موسم الروبيان 2025 Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Fourth paragraph (dateline 21 July 2025) · 2025-07-21 |
| 2025 | Ban Press report |
Ban dates in 2025 according to the press: Al-Yaum newspaper (3 February 2025) reports that the Ministry’s Eastern Province branch, represented by the Fisheries Research Centre in Qatif, announced the end of the 2024 season at the end of January and the start of the ban on shrimp fishing and trading from 1 February 2025 until 31 July 2025. This is a press report of the branch’s announcement, and the original announcement was not found. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
الشرقية... انتهاء موسم صيد الروبيان في مياه المملكة من الخليج العربي صحيفة اليوم
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 First two paragraphs (published 3 February 2025) · 2025-02-03 |
| 2025 | Licences Official announcement, as relayed |
Permits for the 2025 season, Eastern Province: the agency (21 July 2025) says the branch issued shrimp fishing permits to 710 boats of the large (launch) and small categories, distributed across the harbours of Manifa (30), Safaniya (20), Jubail (330), Qatif (160) and Darin island (170). It says permits are issued electronically and that licences are converted from fish to shrimp fishing. The report gives no gear details or mesh sizes. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / 710 مراكب صيد في المنطقة الشرقية تستعد لانطلاق موسم الروبيان 2025 Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraphs 1–3 (dateline 21 July 2025) · 2025-07-21 |
| 2024 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2024, Eastern Province: according to the Saudi Press Agency (1 August 2024), the fish and shrimp markets of the Eastern Province received that day the first catch of the season after a fishing ban that lasted 6 months, and fishing continues until the end of January 2025. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / أسواق الأسماك والروبيان في المنطقة الشرقية تستقبل باكورة صيد الروبيان للموسم 2024 Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraphs 1–2 (dateline 1 August 2024) · 2024-08-01 |
| 2024 | Annual-repeat wording Official announcement, as relayed |
The annual rule according to the branch director: the director of the Ministry’s Eastern Province branch (Eng. Fahd bin Ahmad Al-Hamzi) told the Saudi Press Agency (24 July 2024) that the Eastern Province “receives the shrimp season on the first of August every year” and that it lasts 6 months. A named official’s statement, not a regulation text; it gives no ban dates. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي / أكثر من 700 مركب صيد في المنطقة الشرقية تستعد لانطلاق موسم الروبيان 2024 Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Third paragraph, the branch director’s statement (dateline 24 July 2024) · 2024-07-24 |
| 2023 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2023, Eastern Province: the Saudi Press Agency says in a report dated 1 February 2024 that the season closed “yesterday” after 6 months of fishing in the fishing areas stretching from the coast of Khafji in the north to Qatif, Darin, Seihat, Dammam and Khobar in the south. The report gives no start date for the season. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي/ اختتام موسم الروبيان 2023 بصيد 15 ألف طن في المنطقة الشرقية Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 1 February 2024) · 2024-02-01 |
| 2023 | Annual-repeat wording Official announcement, as relayed |
The ban’s length as the Saudi Press Agency describes it (1 February 2024): in its closing paragraph it says the Ministry stressed that fishers must comply with the shrimp fishing ban decision “which extends for six months each year”. This is the agency’s own wording, not a regulation text or a named official’s statement, and it gives no ban dates. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
اقتصادي/ اختتام موسم الروبيان 2023 بصيد 15 ألف طن في المنطقة الشرقية Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Closing paragraph (dateline 1 February 2024) · 2024-02-01 |
| 2022 | Fishing season Press report |
End of the 2022 season, Arabian Gulf, according to the press: Al-Jazirah newspaper (August 2022) says the 2022 season lasts six months and ends on 31 January 2023. The date is the newspaper’s; the text does not attribute it to an official, and no official text with this date was found. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast | Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 |
| 2022 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2022, Arabian Gulf: the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture posted on its X account (28 July 2022) that the season starts on 1 August 2022 and lasts 6 months. The post gives no end date. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
وزارة البيئة والمياه والزراعة on X — 28 يوليو 2022 (موسم صيد الروبيان في الخليج العربي) Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (official account on X)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Post text and timestamp (28 July 2022) · 2022-07-28 |
| 2021 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season 2021, Arabian Gulf coast (Eastern Province): the Ministry’s branch said in a report of 29 July 2021 that the season starts on 1 August and lasts 6 months. The report gives no end date, and none is calculated here from the duration. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
عام / انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان 2021 في الأول من أغسطس القادم Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 29 July 2021) · 2021-07-29 |
| 2020 | Ban Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing ban after the 2019 season, Arabian Gulf: the Ministry’s director of marine fisheries (Eng. Khalid Al-Shayea) said in the same report that the ban would begin on 1 February 2020. The report gives no end date for the ban. He urged fishers to comply with the Executive Regulations of the fishing system and said violators face a penalty and a fine of up to SAR 10,000 (as stated in the 2019 announcement, not a current penalty schedule). | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
عام / "البيئة": انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في الخليج العربي.. أغسطس المقبل Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 2 (dateline 28 July 2019) · 2019-07-28 |
| 2019 | Fishing season Official announcement, as relayed |
Shrimp fishing season on the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast, 2019: the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture announced, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency (28 July 2019), that it would begin on 1 August and end on 31 January 2020, six months. An announcement for one year, not a published rule that repeats every year. | Eastern Province, Arabian Gulf coast |
عام / "البيئة": انطلاق موسم صيد الروبيان في الخليج العربي.. أغسطس المقبل Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Paragraph 1 (dateline 28 July 2019) · 2019-07-28 |
The Kingdom’s regulatory framework
| Year | Kind | What the source states | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Regulation Regulation text |
The regulatory framework for closed seasons: the Executive Regulations of the Agriculture Law state that the Ministry determines the aquatic species whose fishing is banned and the closed seasons and areas (article 159), bans the possession, trade or transport of aquatic life, including fish and shrimp, during their closed seasons (article 164), and issues seasonal licences for fishing some aquatic life (article 160). The regulation’s text does not fix shrimp season dates for either coast; the ministerial decision that fixes the closed seasons was not found. | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (both coasts) |
اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة جريدة أم القرى (uqn.gov.sa)
Last checked in the register: 2026-10-17 Articles 159, 160 and 164 (web copy of the regulation) · 2022-09-02 |
These rows were approved in the register on the founder’s own review of them with their sources; that is not an independent scientific review. What no source established (such as the end date of the 2026 Al-Qunfudhah season) is not written here.
What the register does not hold for this group
Everything below is absent from the register and stays a declared absence: no approximate value, no stand-in image, no map.
- Size and weight grades
- Count per kilogram
- Farmed (aquaculture) shrimp
- Conservation status
- An approved image for every published species (a species without one shows no image, and none is substituted)
- A distribution map
How shrimp are handled in this encyclopedia
- The published shrimp material was approved in the register on the founder’s own review of it; that is not an independent scientific review. Visiting this page changes no state in the register.
- This section shows only what was approved: species with their scientific names, their documented Arabic names and what their sources document, and fishing seasons and bans with their area, year and source. There is no distribution map here, no prices and no commercial size grades.
- Shrimp are never answered with fish: this page leads to no fish list.
What the register holds of the crustaceans, and what it does not →