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195147

Impact of tourism and fishing on the coral reef health along the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, Egypt

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Last updated: 23 Dec 2024

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Abstract

To assess the anthropogenic impact on the Egyptian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, particularly the tourism and fishing influences. Eighteen sites were surveyed from November 2019 to February 2020. At each site, coral cover was determined using Point Intercept Transect (PIT) method, at depths of 3 and 8 m. Also, abundances of invertebrate species were determined by the belt transect method at the same depths for each site. Mean of cover percentages of corals (hard and soft) at Dahab sector ranged from 16.7 to 64.0 % at 3m, and from 3.3 to 56.0 % at 8m. At Nuweiba'a, it ranged from 7.3 to 55.3 % at 3m and from 4.0 to 30.0 % at 8 m. Statistical analyses confirmed that there were significant differences in coral assemblage in relation to depth and sites. A total of 78 invertebrate species were recorded and counted from the two depths at the two sectors. Of which, the molluscan, Tridacna sp. and the echinoderms, Echinometra mathaei and Diadema setosum were found to be the most abundant species at the two sectors as well as at both depths. In addition, the abundance and assemblages of recorded key invertebrate species were varied among the sectors. Comparison of the influences of tourism and fishing showed several observations suggested a moderate decline in coral cover and key invertebrate species, with a notable increase of total algal cover in the Nuweiba'a sector.

DOI

10.21608/ejabf.2021.195147

Keywords

Benthic Cover, Coral reef, Key invertebrates, tourism, Overfishing, Dahab, Nuweiba’a, Red Sea, Egypt

Authors

First Name

Kareem

Last Name

F. Darweesh et al.

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Volume

25

Article Issue

4

Related Issue

26733

Issue Date

2021-07-01

Receive Date

2021-09-19

Publish Date

2021-07-01

Page Start

785

Page End

805

Print ISSN

1110-6131

Online ISSN

2536-9814

Link

https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/article_195147.html

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https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=195147

Order

48

Type

Original Article

Type Code

103

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries

Publication Link

https://ejabf.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Impact of tourism and fishing on the coral reef health along the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, Egypt

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023