Introduction to the Red Sea

Distribution and diversity of fish species exposed to artisanal fishery along the Sudanese Red Sea coast

“…The Red Sea is host to a uniquely rich marine biodiversity and high prevalence of endemic species [2,3,4]. While the northern reef areas of Egypt and the Gulf of Aqaba/ Eilat have been extensively investigated [1, 5], the Red Sea proper is generally poorly studied, and only rudimentary studies from decades back have focused on commercial fisheries [6]. The research published on the Red Sea ecosystem is dwarfed by that of the Great Barrier Reef and, in particular, the Caribbean [1], despite equal scientific relevance.…”

“…Institutional capacities in the region are limited and official landings data are sparse and essentially unreliable. Tesfamichael and Pauly [6] reconstructed the catch statistics from all Red Sea countries using a combination of unpublished data and interviews with managers, stakeholders and fishers around the Red Sea. They found that the reconstructed catches were 1.5 × larger than the official FAO statistics with artisanal fisheries dominating, accounting for 49% of the total catch from 1950 – 2010 [6].…”

“…Tesfamichael and Pauly [6] reconstructed the catch statistics from all Red Sea countries using a combination of unpublished data and interviews with managers, stakeholders and fishers around the Red Sea. They found that the reconstructed catches were 1.5 × larger than the official FAO statistics with artisanal fisheries dominating, accounting for 49% of the total catch from 1950 – 2010 [6]. These estimates, however, also rely on several assumptions and are too rather uncertain, and management and enforcement of the fisheries in the region are essentially based on a highly data-poor knowledge base (Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen) [6].…”

“…The Republic of the Sudan’s Red Sea State include 853 km of the 2250 km African (western) Red Sea shore (Figure 1). Although there are large latitudinal gradients in environmental conditions with salinity increasing to the north and temperature increasing towards the south [6, 7], the biological community changes little from north to south [8]. Most studies from the region are over 50 years old and have primarily focused on single reef study sites such as the Costeau Conshelf habitation experiment at Sha’ab Rumi in 1963 [9].…”

“…Sudan is the Red Sea country that utlizes its marine resources to the least degree [8] and compared to other countries bordering the main part of the Red Sea, Sudan has the lowest catch per km of coastline [6], governing some speculation that there may be room for expanding fisheries yields.…”