Press Release

Marine resources Management in the Red Sea receives a grant of US$600,000

60/2006 June 13, 2006, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) today approved a grant of US$600,000 to co-finance a program aimed at helping manage marine resources among seven countries bordering the Red Sea.

The fisheries in the red sea support approximately 30,000 artisanal fishermen, using over 10,000 fishing craft and a variety of fishing gear and in the industrial sector, there are over 7,500 fishermen using fishing vessels that can stay at sea for up to a month.

Assessment of capabilities among the seven countries (Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen) revealed weakness in institutional structures and governments have expressed the need to strengthen the governance of Red Sea Fisheries through a regional program. The development of a regional capacity-building program as proposed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will function as a regional fisheries forum, thus coordinating fisheries management and addressing technical and physical deficiencies so that fisheries policies will be harmonized throughout the region.

The program aims to improve the management of fisheries resources in the Red Sea. This will be achieved by assisting countries in the region to promote development of the fisheries sub-sector; to obtain up-to-date information on the state of fishery resources to set a common policy framework on fisheries management; and to develop national institutional capacities in beneficiary countries.