Written by: Mohammed Omran
In a move reflecting growing regional and international interest in protection marine resources In Africa, the founding meeting of the project to promote sustainable fisheries management in the large marine ecosystem of the Red Sea was launched in Cairo, under the supervision of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the participation of seven countries: Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Yemen, Jordan, Sudan, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
FAO is leading a project for sustainable fisheries in the Red Sea involving 7 countries.
Dr. Ahmed Nasrallah, Country Director of the WorldFish Center in Egypt, confirmed during the inaugural meeting of the project to promote sustainable fisheries management in the Red Sea macro-ecosystem, which is being implemented by the WorldFish Center in cooperation with the Regional Commission for Fisheries and under the supervision of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), that each of the four axes of the project focuses on a number of common objectives to achieve the desired results, including integrating socio-economic data, forming a multi-stakeholder working group to support fisheries management, developing sustainability indicators at the national and regional levels, and creating an integrated strategy for communication and knowledge dissemination.
Cairo today witnessed the launch of the founding meeting of the Greater Red Sea Marine Environmental Enhancement Project through the Global Environment Facility, in the presence of the Assistant Director-General for the Near East and North Africa region at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Major General Al-Hussein Farhat, Executive Director of the Lakes and Fisheries Protection and Development Authority, the WorldFish Center, in addition to partner institutions, and virtual attendees and participants via the Zoom platform. .
The inaugural meeting of the FAO’s Red Sea Fisheries Project, supported by the Global Environment Facility, is entitled “Promoting Sustainable Fisheries Management in the Red Sea Macroecosystem,” and brings together regional and international partners with a shared commitment to a sustainable future for Red Sea fisheries.
It is worth noting that the marine resources of the Red Sea have provided prosperity to the region for centuries, as fisheries are an important activity in all seven Arab and African coastal states. Although they differ greatly in fisheries production, economic development, and the contribution of fisheries to their economies, they are threatened by recent developments, including the overexploitation of species, destruction of breeding sites and feeding areas, pollution, poor management of fisheries resources, and weak governance, which has led to the depletion of the living marine environment with a significant loss of biodiversity as a result.
