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Fishermen Protest in Hurghada Boulevard

A fleet of 13 local fishermen boats entered the Hurghada New Marina on10 th of March 2012 with a purpose to put more attention to the problem the local fishermen are facing with the unsustainable fishing practices from Fayoum fishermen, who are not only emptying out the Egyptian waters but also destroying the sensitive marine life. The fishermen from Hurghada have been fishing in these waters for decades. Their fishing practices are sustainable; they know where they can fish, they know when they can fish, they know how they can fish and they know what they can fish in order to keep the Red Sea resources alive and flourishing. Making income from fishing has been in their families for generations and most of the local fishermen families depend on their daily catch. But with the decrease of fish stock due to mass fishing, also their daily catch decreases, leaving their families with less money than they need to survive. Solomon Ouda, head of the fishermen syndicate, once said that seeing a dead fish in the water is like seeing his own child being drowned. With the fishing practices fishermen coming from outside the Red Sea, in this case Fayoum, are using, dead fish on the surface is exactly what is most likely to happen. Their unsustainable fishing practices include fishing with large nets, which causes a large number of by-catch and additional reef destruction, both incidents that the Red Sea cannot survive much longer. Earlier on Saturday it came to a confrontation between fishermen from Hurghada and fishermen from Fayoum, which ended in a rather unpleasant way including multiple feluccas (artisanal fishing vessels) on fire. By entering the New Marina, a popular place for tourism but also home to a coastguard office, the fishermen of Hurghada stood up for themselves, put attention to the fishing problems of the Red Sea and asked the government to intervene. And at least for that day their action was successful: the fishermen coming from outside the Red Sea left the Hurghada area. HEPCA supports Hurghada’s fishermen in making their demands visible. It is time that the laws and regulations, which were formulated in the “Hurghada Declaration” in June 2009, are finally being followed and enforced. We will fight with our fishermen side by side until fishing in the Red Sea finally becomes sustainable again!