Bioeconomic analysis of Egyptian mediterranean and red sea fisheries: Implications for sustainable management

Abstract

Egyptian marine fisheries face the same challenges as most of the world’s fisheries including overfishing. This research provides an assessment of the stock and economic situations of marine fisheries in both the Mediterranean and Red Seas of Egypt. Key objectives are to assess the biological status of these fisheries, evaluate suitable surplus production models, and estimate Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) with its corresponding effort (E_MSY). Additionally, the study determines economic benchmarks like Maximum Economic Yield (MEY) and Open Access Equilibrium (OAE), and proposes management recommendations based on these bioeconomic analyses. The analysis employs catch and effort data to determine biological parameters using surplus production models. The Clarke-Yoshimoto-Pooley (CY&P) model was selected to estimate MSY and fishing effort in MSY (E_MSY), as it was considered the most suitable for this purpose; a bioeconomic model based on CY&P was also developed. The CY&P model estimations for 2016 show that actual fishing effort in the Mediterranean Sea (498,423 horsepower (HP)) was more than double the target E_MSY (243,768 HP). Similarly, in the Red Sea, effort (296,391 HP) exceeded its E_MSY (175,947 HP), indicating severe overexploitation and stock depletion in both regions. The study underscores the critical need for substantial fishing effort reductions—around 51.1 % in the Mediterranean and 40.6 % in the Red Sea—to reach E_MSY targets. Primary management recommendations derived from this study focus on implementing stringent effort controls, gear-specific measures, and improved fishery monitoring to facilitate stock recovery and optimize economic benefits.