FAO and GEF launch RedSeaFish Project to promote sustainable fisheries management

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) have launched today the RedSeaFish project, to promote sustainable fisheries management in the Red Sea Large Marine Ecosystem.

“The RedSeaFish project provides a collaborative framework to preserve and protect whole ecosystems efficiently while also providing opportunities for coastal Arab and African Red Sea countries to benefit sustainably from the services they render,” said AbdulHakim Elwaer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa.

This project, with its elements of regional collaboration at its core, comes at a time when regional collaboration on fisheries management is needed now more than ever.

The Red Sea is a unique water basin that supports one of the highest levels of endemism of marine biodiversity in the world, with an estimated 14.7 percent of its fish species endemic.

While fisheries’ contribution to national GDP is usually not large amongst the Red Sea countries, fisheries are a particularly important source of livelihoods, food security and nutrition (especially for protein) for many Red Sea coastal communities. An estimated 85 000 people are directly engaged in fishing on the Red Sea and many more men and women are employed in support roles supplying the fishing sector, or in the post-harvest sector. Assessments of stocks at the regional level are missing and vary at national levels; this is an important gap, as, it is impossible for governments and stakeholders to plan well when they do not know the extent of resources available for fishing and other activities.

The regional RedSeaFish project provides a collaborative framework to preserve and protect whole ecosystems efficiently while also providing opportunities for coastal Arab and African Red Sea countries to benefit sustainably from the services they render. This project, while regional in nature, will benefit the Red Sea coastal countries at the national level as well. It aims to improve data collection, assessment of stocks, regional cooperation and national frameworks for fisheries management.

The project was launched today through an inception meeting joined by 50+ officials from across the region to begin the project's development.