REPORT ON 0-ECONOMIC SURVEY THEOF EXPLORATORY THE EGYPTIAN ~~D SEA FISHERIES RAB/77/008/1 PHOJECT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FISHERIES IN AREAS OF THE Hill) SEA AND. GULF OF ADEN R1'J3/77 /008 REPORT ON 1 THE EXPLORATORY SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY OF THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA FISHERIES By A. A. BARR.ANH. Socio-Economist & M.A. EL SHFJ'H~AWI Economist, Ministry of Agriculture CAIRO, EGYPT MARCH, 1979 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ABSTRACT The Egyptian Red Sea coast is approximately 1 630 km in length. The main fishery centres· are Suez, llurghada and Quseir on the western side. Bl-Tor fishing centre, located on the eastern side of the Gulf of Suez 1ms under Israeli control w~e,n this report was being pre_pared. The yearly average catch of the Red Sea fisheries has been estimated at approx. 16 CXXl tons. The fishing fleet consists of 287 motorized boats. pm~crcd by engines from 8-400 llP, and 158 sail and row boats. The medium and larger motorized boats use trawling and purse seine or: both either in or out of the Gulf of Suez. Boats is marketed fresh (iced) and in small parts salted and dried. ·Pricing is considered a complicated problem, both for fishermen and for the authorities. Inadequate pri- cini; has gi vcn rise to black market of fish. The total number of fishermen is about 3 700. The Suez Fishing Centre area is the most dense. followed by Qii.seir and Hurghada. The ruijori ty of fishcrcen have no other occupation. Some mmers of mo:t.orized boats participate in the fish trade. Also, th~ big fish traders O\ffi all or part of some fishing boats. The standard of living is rather low, especially for S!Jall 01mers and labourers. Host of the· fishermen depend mainly upon fish traders to supply them 1dth loans to finance their busin~ss and personal rcquirerocnts. There is a trend among the fishermen to_ leave fishing for other activities for the follmdng reasons: i. The pollution caused by oil prospecting opcration5, ii. Security regulations have limited fishing operations, iii. The prohibition of fishin~ operations near some islands restricts fishing areas, especially for the s=ll boats which cannot Op<!rate far frbm the' coast, iv. Lack of a rational fish pricing systems, v. The inddcquacy of social services -and relatively high wages in minini;, construction and tour:istic projects which entice fisher­ men to leave fishing activities, vi. Lack of proper. facilities on the landing sites hampers fishing operations,. The Fishermen Cooperative Societies (FCS) in Suez, !lurghada and Quseir arc considered as the !!lain fishermen's organizations. However, the activities of these F.C.S. arc very lil!litcd mainly due to lack of funds • • Because of .the nul!lerous authorities supervising the Red Sea fisheries, an overlap occurs which, coupled with lack of coordination, &ivcs rise to conflictini; decisions and inadequate use of available resources. - ii - ITINERARY Date of Arrival Date of Departure Suez 16/2/1979 24/2/1979 Hurghada 24/2/1979 27/2/1979 27/2/1979 27/2/1979 Al Kowaig 27/2/1979 27/2/1979 f,l Quseir 27/2/1979 28/2/1979 Tonobak 28/2/1979 28/2/1979 Ras Danas 28/2/1979 28/2/1979 Abu Ghossoun 28/2/1979 1/3/1979 Hurghada. 1/3/1979 2/3/1979 Suez 2/3/1979 3/3/1979 Cairo 3/3/1979 iii - PERSONS iIBT Cairo Mr. Ahmed Tawfiq Abdel Nabi Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture for Aquatic Resources. Mr. Sal ah Zaal ouk First Undersecretary for Aquatic Resources, Ministry of .Agric. Mr. Fayez Guinedi Chief, Supervision a..1d Fb llow-up section, Cooperation Department, Undersecretariat, Min. of Agric. Mr. Abdel Rahman Mostafa Cooperative Supervisor, Alexandria Zone for Aquatic Resources Mr. Gadou El Shenmri Owner of motor boats and member of the Fishermen Cooperative Society in Suez. Suez Mr. Mohamed Abdallah General Secretary, Suez Governorate Mr. Mohamed Shalabi Director, Fishermen's Cooperative Society, Suez. Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Director, Suez Research Centre, Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Mr. Mahsoub Al Zohairi Director-General, Agricultural Dept. Suez Governoratce. Mr. Abdel Hamid Abdel Hal±rn Assistant Director, Agricultural Dept. and Supervisor on Fisheries. Mr. Naguib Rashwan Chief, Fisheries Office. Mr. Ala 1 Al Kholy Director General, Supply Directorate, Suez Governorate. Safaga Mr. Abdel Rahman Anaba Chief, of Safaga City Council. l·ir. Abdel f:'attah Aboul F9,dl Director, Gerco Ice Plant, Safaga. Mr. Elia Nassif Port Director and Financial Director, Al Nasr .. Phosphate Company. - iv - Al I~owcig Group of fishermen Al Quseir Mr. Abdel Hassib Yousef Secretary, City Council, Al Quseir J.lr. Kamal El Din Hussein 1·1ember, People 1 s Assembly for Al Quseir Area, and Director General of. Phosphate Co. Group of fishermen Tonobak Group of fishermen Abu Ghossoun 1-:r. Ali Knrbawi Chief, ·mechanical workshops, Al Nasr Phosphate Co. and Council member, Red Sea Governorate. Ras Danas Mr. Al Saad Fishermen's· leader, Ras Banas. Group of fishermen - v - TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. RED SEA FISHERIES IN THE .AR!ill REPUBLIC OF EGYPT 3 2.1 Background Information 3 2.2 Fishing Centres 5 2.3 Fish Landings 6 2.3.1 Introduction 6 2.3.2 Landings of Suez Fishing Centre 10 2.3.2.1 Catch Composition of Suez Fishing Centre 10 2.3.2.2 Seasonal Variation of Catch at Suez Fishing Centre 11 2.3.3 The Landing of Hurghada Fishing Centre ;, 17 2.3.3.1 Catch Composition of Hurghada Fishing Centre 18 2.3.3.2 Seasonal Variation of Fish Landing In Hurghada Fishing Centre 18 2.4 Fishermen 25 ' . '•. 2.4.1 Suez 25 2.4.2 Hurghada 34 2.4.3 El ICoweig . 36 2.4.4 Quseir 36 2.4.5 Tonobak . 38 2.4.6 Ras Banas . • 38 2.4.7 Khada' and Shallateen . 39 2.5 Fishing Boats and Gear. 39 2.5.1 Suez 41 2.5.2 Hurghada. 47 2.5.3 Safaga .. .. 52 2.5.4 El Km·rnig . 52 2.5.5 Quseir 52 2.5.6 Tonobak . 53 2.5.7 Ras Banas . 53 3. FISH PROCESSING 54 4. FISH HANDLING & MARKETING . 54 4.1 Fresh Fish 54 4.1.1 Suez 54 vi 4.1.2 Ilurghada 59 4.1.3 Other Fishing Centre~ 61 4.2 Salted Fish 61 5,. FISH PRICES 61 6. FISHERIES RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE 63 6.1 Fishing Ports (landing sites) 63 6.1.1 Suez 64 65 6.1.2 H,urghada . ' . 6.1.3 Safaga 66 6.1.4 Quseir 67 6.1.5 Abu Ghossoun Port 68 6.2 Ice Plants and Cold Stores 68 6.2.1 Suez 68 6.2.2 Hurghada 69 6.2.3 Safaga• 70 6.2.3 Quseir 70 6.3 Boat-J3uilding, Repairing and l•iaintenaI1ce \forkshop 71 6.3.1 Suez 71 6.3.2 Hurghada 71 6.3.3 Safaga 71 6.3.4 Quseir 72 6.3.5 Abu Ghossoun 72 6.4 Roads, Water, Electricity and Social Services 72 6.5 Research Stations 73 7. PREVIOUS ACTIVITIES 74 7.1 Berenice Fishing Project 74 7.2 Cooperative :Marketing ·of Fish 75 7~3 Southern Fisheries Company• • 76 8. AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPERVISION AND MPJ~AGEMENT OF P..ED SEA FISHEP..IES • 77 9. FISHERMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 80 9.1 Suez Si 9.2 Hurghada • 82 9.3 Quseir • 82 10 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 83 vii 10.1 Fish Statistics . 83 10.2 Landings . 83 10.3 Fishermen . 84 10.4 Fishing Boats and Gear·· 87 10.5 Fish Processing • . 90 10.6 Fish Handling . 90 10.7 Fish Pricing and Marketing . • 92 10.8 Infrastructure 94 10.8.1 Fishing Ports • 94 10.s.2 Ice Plants and Cold Stores. '. 96 10.8.3 Hainten1lllce and Repair Workshops . 96 10.8.4 Roads • 97 10.8.5 Scientific Research Stations . .. 97 10.9 Authorities Responsible for Supervision, Organization and Management of Red Sea Fisheries . 97 10.10 Cooperative Societies • . 98 10.11Achieving Integration Among Fishing Comnunities • 99 .ANNEXES . 102-115 1. INTRODUCTION According to the Project Document of the Project for Development of Fisheries in Areas of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the immediate objectives of the project are to aim at improving fishery production in the participating countries to benefit small-scale fisheries and at developing the industrial potential; to prepare the ground, identify the means and initiate the 'reactivation and expansion of the existing marine fisheries a11d thereby to preserve the fishing cormnuni ties; and to plan and, where appropriate, design and initiate investment-oriented development schemes. To carry out the socio-economic aspects of the above aims, the work plan was to: a. undertake socio-economic studies to define the most suitable approaches to fisheries development in consultation with member.s of the fishing cornmuni ties and with due regard to available resources. b. carry out investigations in collaboration with national staff in order to determine the reasons for the decrease in the number of fishermen, to encourage recruitment of young people into the fishery industry and to propose solutions to problems identified; c. collaborate with the investment analyst in preparing integrated plans for immediate investment and also for longer term fisheries development; d. assist in identifying sites and areas for the establishment of fishing comr.mni ty centres based on socio-economic conditions and fishery resources; - 2 - e. explore ways and means _of attracting the necessary government and/ or internatj onaldonors' financial support for the establishment of the community centres.