MARINE RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS PROGRAMME

In the year 2000, FAO and IFAD worked together to assist countries bordering the Red Sea and northwest Arabian Sea and the Gulf States in designing and appraising programmes for marine resources and environmental surveys.

The assistance given to the countries aimed to:

• promote the development and management of fisheries in the region;
• establish a reliable and updated information base on the state of fishery resources to support a common policy framework on fisheries management in the region;
• develop national institutional capacities to undertake all activities related to marine resource surveys and analysis; and
• develop and institutionalize the skills, capacities and procedures used in operational fisheries management.

Above and below:fishermen from the fishing cooperative "La Pêcherie" unload their fish in Djibouti - IFAD/F. Mattioli

In the long term, it is expected that the programmes designed will make marine resource assessment surveys a reality in the Red Sea, the northwest Arabian Sea and the Gulf States. Regularly updated information on the state of exploited fishery resources - such as that provided by the surveys - is an indispensable tool for improved management and sustainable exploitation of fisheries.

Moreover, such information offers numerous additional benefits. The surveys enable scientists from universities and other research institutions to undertake basic and applied research for nominal additional costs, which would otherwise not be possible.

These surveys benefit all users of marine living resources, from inshore and artisanal fishermen through to medium- and large-scale fishing operators and other national and regional clients who require information about the marine environment.

IFAD/F. Mattioli