Paper short abstract:

Resource uses in dry land fisheries differ according to water depth. In deep waters it is difficult for fishermen with simple fishing methods to catch fish. Shallow waters are rich in resources, dugongs for example. It has become a serious problem to conserve coastal resources in the Red Sea.

Paper long abstract:

The maritime culture in dry land is our subject. The case study is offered by Dungonab Bay Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Sudanese Red Sea Coast. Resources are rich in Red Sea coral reef. Resource uses of coastal fisheries differ according to water depth.

By analyzing the location and water depth of each of 77 fishing grounds in the MPA, it was clarified that 84 % of the fishing grounds were less than 30 meters. Fishermen here tend to target the coral reef fishes in the shallow waters.

Most of deep fishing grounds (40 to 50 meters) were located outside the bay, where the fishermen caught Nagil (Plectropomus maculates): the most valuable fish in the Red Sea. While valuable resources locate in deeper water, it is difficult for local fishermen with simple fishing methods such as hand-line fishing without fish-finders to catch them.

Resources in shallow water are rich. The overexploitations of sea cucumber and dugong by-catch are however serious. Dugong is by-cached with the multifilament gillnets set in shallow sea grass beds during the night. Dugongs had been used as food and material of shield. Their demand recently declines however and they give damage to expensive gillnets. Fishermen don't like therefore to go catching dugongs. The local people began to discuss about the way of avoiding dugong by-catch; stop fishing when they find dugongs and not setting the multifilament gillnets in sea grass beds during nighttime.