Current status and sustainability issues of marine resources and biodiversity in Sudanese national red sea water

Abstract

The Sudanese Red Sea is famous for its attractive and mostly pristine habitats, particularly its coral reefs. Three distinct depth zones are recognized: shallow reef-studded shelves less than 50 m deep, deep shelves 500 to 1,000 m deep, and a central trench more than 1,000 m deep, reaching a maximum of 3,000 meter off the city of Port Sudan. The current total annual fin fish production in Sudan is estimated to be 8000 tons from marine water (the Red sea). These marine resources divided into artisanal fishery (about 3000 tones), trawling (about 2000 tones), per sine fishery (about 2300 tones), shrimp from trawling (about 60 tones), shrimp from aquaculture (about 6 tones), trochaus (about 724 tones), mother of pearl shell (about 12 tones) and sea cucumber (about 60 tones).The Sudanese marine and coastal environment is in relatively good condition overall, with isolated badly degraded areas. The region, however, is subject to a mounting list of environmental impacts linked to urban and industrial development, and to overgrazing. Coastal habitat destruction by development; oil industry spill risks; passing ship pollution; pollution from land-based sources; risk of importing invasive species in ballast water; fisheries management; mangrove cutting and overgrazing; and marine protected areas and tourism.