The role of marine protected areas in maintaining sustainable fisheries in the Egyptian Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) declared Ras Mohamed National Park the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Egypt in 1983 to conserve the Gulf of Aqaba coral reef ecosystem, sustain artisanal fisheries and encourage tourism activities in this region. The European Commission helped, initially, by providing the needed funding for the establishment of this MPA and for the establishment of two others, one in Nabq and the other in Abu Gallum. The creation of these managed resource protected areas established the entire Egyptian marine sector in the Gulf of Aqaba as a protected area by 1996. Artisanal fisheries were permitted in selected areas in these marine protected areas which were only conducted by the local people (Bedouin). This research assessed the role of the marine protected areas in conserving the fish populations of target and nontarget families in four regions of the Gulf of Aqaba, all of which were subjected to different regulations and fishing pressures over the last decade. In addition, I evaluated the impact of fishing and the catch dynamics at Nabq to ascertain whether specialized fishing regulations of take and no-take zones was effective in conserving the fisheries. Lastly, I conducted a pilot study on the dependency of the Bedouin fishers on the Nabq fisheries and their attitude towards the initiative of conservation measures and perceived needs for change to increase their effectiveness.;I found that the coral reef fish populations have changed over the years since the protected areas came into existence in terms of species richness, diversity, abundance and size; a result of changing fishing pressure due to changes in the effectiveness of law enforcement and conservation. Nabq, which was relatively lightly fished in 2002, was the most affected region where species richness, total fish abundance, and the abundance of target and non-target families significantly declined by 2012 due to heavy fishing pressure and noncompliance to the regulations that applied to the no take zones in the region. In contrast, Dahab, the heavily fished region in 2002, exhibited an increase in species richness, diversity, total fish abundance, the abundances of the least commercially targeted herbivore families and other non-target fish families, by 2012; a result of reduced fishing pressure and increased law enforcement in this region. Additionally Ras Mohamed, which originally did not allow fishing, was found to have experienced illegal fishing beginning by 2003 ultimately resulting in a decline in the abundance of commercially valuable fish families by 2012.;Fishers from Nabq and Dahab depend on the Nabq fisheries for food security and livelihoods. However, many of the fishers were willing to change their occupations and work for tourism or other governmental secured job, as the fisheries currently were very poor. Although the local fishers were aware of the regulations for the protected area and noted the significant decline in the fisheries resources, they disagreed on the way that Nabq fisheries should be managed mainly due to the real and perceived lack of local engagement and enforcement. Lastly, it appears that tourism development that focused on having an intact healthy coral reef system and public awareness can play a role in reducing fishing pressure, increasing fish abundance and maintaining fish diversity in the future, and provide alternative sources of livelihoods for the local people.