Status of marine protected areas in Egypt

Abstract

Egypt has sought to protect its natural resources and marine biodiversity by establishing a network of six MPAs that are generally located in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea; most of them include interconnected marine and terrestrial sectors based on conserving coral reefs and accompanying systems. We assessed the present status of MPA networks that showed a set of important results manifested in some strengths (i.e. proper selection according to specific criteria, management plans, etc.), and also some weaknesses (i.e. a relatively small protected proportion of the Egyptian marine territorial waters, significant pressures mainly by tourism activities, etc.). Finally, some recommendations are proposed from this work (i.e. incorporate more habitats that are not well represented in the network, especially on the Mediterranean Sea; establishing a touristic carrying capacity of each area; etc.) to improve the current situation.

Diversity and characteristics of commercial Red Sea fish species based on fish market survey: informing management to reduce the risk of overfishing

“…In addition, Egypt established a network of five marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Red Sea coast, with no‐take zones, as management tools for the conservation of sensitive habitats ( e.g ., coral reefs) and their associated fish communities (Samy et al ., 2011). These five MPAs include Ras Mohammed National Park (marine area: 597 km 2 ), Abu Galum Managed Resources PA (marine area: 121 km 2 ), Nabq Managed Resources PA (marine area: 121.9 km 2 ), Wadi El Gemal–Hamata PA (marine area: 1600 km 2 ) and Elba PA (marine area: 2000 km 2 ) (Samy et al ., 2011). It is highly likely that these MPAs do not have a significant spillover effect on highly mobile species, such as the many species belonging to the Serranidae family.…”

“…and their associated fish communities (Samy et al, 2011). These five MPAs include Ras Mohammed National Park (marine area: 597 km 2 ), Abu Galum Managed Resources PA (marine area: 121 km 2 ), Nabq Managed Resources PA (marine area: 121.9 km 2 ), Wadi El Gemal-Hamata PA (marine area: 1600 km 2 ) and Elba PA (marine area: 2000 km 2 ) (Samy et al, 2011).…”

“…The Red Sea is a semi‐enclosed marine basin with warmer and more saline waters than many other marine tropical ecosystems (Ngugi et al ., 2012; Raitsos et al ., 2015; Roberts et al ., 2016). It is known as a home for many sensitive habitats ( e.g ., coral reefs) which supports a high biodiversity of marine species and important artisanal fisheries (Farrag et al ., 2018; Samy et al ., 2011). With a coastline of almost 1500 km (including the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba and the intervening Sinai Peninsula) on the Red Sea, a population of more than 100 million habitants, and a millennial fisheries tradition, Egypt is considered one of the largest fishing countries in the region (Samy‐Kamal, 2015).…”

Insights on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Activities by Egyptian Vessels in Neighbouring Countries

“…One of the main reasons behind this situation is the low abundance of Egyptian coastal fisheries resources. The Mediterranean, in general terms, is a heavily overexploited sea [36,37], while a large part of the Egyptian Red Sea is protected for the conservation of many sensitive habitats (e.g., mangroves and coral reefs) except for the Gulf of Suez [18], which reduces the available fishing grounds, especially for trawling. The Egyptian landings from both the Mediterranean and Red Sea have shown a decline in the last two decades (Figure 3).…”

“…Its importance is significant in the coastal areas, where the fishing sector is the main source of income and creation of employment and provides a livelihood to many people. Its role is even more essential when considering the indirect employment created by the sector [15,16,18,19]. Recently, there has been a surge of news/media articles about repeated incidents of detention of Egyptian fishers in some Arab and African countries bordering the Mediterranean and Red seas, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, Tunisia and Libya, which necessitated the intervention of the Egyptian government for their release.…”