3.7 Environmental considerations

Coastal lagoons face the following problems with respect to ecosystem productivity and capacity to sustain fishers’ livelihoods. Each problem represents a serious constraint to the development of captured fish production from these lagoons.

• Degradation, habitat loss, filling up and drought; which lead to a decrease in size of all delta lagoons by over 70 percent of their original areas.
• Pollution: delta lagoons are the most polluted areas in Egypt. They receive great amounts of industrial, municipal and agricultural wastewaters without treatment. • Spread of aquatic plants that cover large areas of these lagoons.
• Overfishing, illegal fishing practices and illegal harvesting of fish fry.
• The silting of Boughazes (the connections with the open sea).
• High levels of eutrophication resulting from the increased nutrient inputs from agricultural activities and fish farm drains carrying large amounts of washed and leached fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides.The low awareness of fishers and aquaculture investors about environmental issues and the importance of fisheries and aquaculture regulation measures.
Development perspectives in fish production
• Selective breeding programmes for the production of fast growing tilapia, to replace the present technique of using hormones to produce all male tilapia.
• Monitoring, detecting and proposing solutions for the problem of releasing hormonized fish feed into the environment.
• Research on the biological treatment of excess nutrients flowing from fish farms into lagoons through simple and profitable technologies (integration, aquaponics, etc.). • Training programmes and technology transfer of marine fish hatcheries to produce considerable numbers of grey mullets and other marine fish fry, meagre, groupers). • Evaluation of conflicting fish culture practices inside the delta lakes (e.g. hoshas) and proposing development solutions.
• Stocking freshwater areas of lagoons with hatchery-produced tilapia fry.

3.8 References

Abdel Rahman, S.H. 2008. Fishery resources in Egypt (Present status and future prospective). Presented at the Second International Conference on Aquatic Resources. National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria, Egypt, November 2008.
Abdel Rahman, S.H. 2009. Fish production in Egypt. Presented at the Third International Conference on Aquatic Resources. National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Alexandria, Egypt, November 2009.
Abdel Razek, F.A., Taha, S.M. and Ameran, M.A. 2006. Population biology of the edible crab Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus) from Bardaweel lagoon, northern Sinai, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 32: 401–418.
Abdel Razek, F.A., Taha, S.M. and Ameran, M.A. 2008. Biological studies of Penaeid shrimp population in Bardawil Lagoon, Northern Sinai, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 34: 299–315.
Barrania, A.A. 2007. Egyptian Fishery Resources [online]. www.gafrd.org
Ben-Tuvia, A. 1985. Biological basis for the fishery regulation and management of the Bardawil Lagoon, Mediterranean Coast of Sinai. FAO Fisheries Report No. 289 Supplement 3. Rome, FAO. 215–470 pp.
Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). 2010. Census info. Arab Republic of Egypt. Cabinet of Ministers [online]. Egypt. [Cited 28 January 2014]. www.capmas.gov.eg/.
Dumont, H.J. and El-Shabrawy, G.M. 2008. Seven decades of change in the zooplankton of the Nile delta (Egypt), with particular reference on lake Burullus. International Review of Hydrobiology, 93: 44–61.
El-Maghraby, A.M., Ezzat, A. and Al-Sayes, A. 1977. Fishing methods and gear used in northern delta lakes, with special reference to lake Borollus. Presented at the First Arab Biologists Congress, Alexandria, Egypt, 26–30 October 1977.
El-Maghraby, A.M.; Hashem, M.T. and El-Sedfy, H.K. 1974. Species composition and distribution of the mullet fry in lake Borollus. Bulletin of the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, 4: 3–13.
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El-Mezayn, A.A. 2010. Manzala lake. www.gafrd.org
El-Sayed, A.F.M. 2006. Tilapia culture. CABI Publication Series. Oxford, UK.
El Sayes, A.A. 2005. Environmental and fishery investigation on lake Burullus. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, 31: 1–37.
General Authority for Fisheries Resources Development (GAFRD). 1980–2009. Year Book Statistics, Fish Production Statistics. Arab Republic of Egypt, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.
Khalil, M.T. and El-Dawy, F.A. 2002. Ecological Survey of Burullus Natural Protectorate: Fishes and Fisheries. Med Wet Coast Project. Cairo, Egypt, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA). pp. 327–378
Khalil, M.T. and Selim, S.H. 2011. Can the freshwater crayfish eradicate schistosomiasis in Egypt and Africa. Journal of American Science, 7: 457–362.
Khalil, M.T. and Shaltout, K.H. 2006. lake Bardawil and Zaranik Protected Area. State Ministry of Environment, Arab Republic of Egypt. Publication of Biodiversity Unit No. 15. Cairo, Egypt. 559 pp.
Maclaren, J. F., Stevenson, M., & Kellogg, R. 1980. lake Manzala study (Aquaculture site selection report). Arab Republic of Egypt, Ministry of Development and New Communities, and United Nations Development Programme, Office of Projects Execution, 5-1.
National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. 2009. Progressive Report “Monitoring of Environmental Conditions in Egyptian Coastal lakes”. Extended project funded by the Ministry of Environment, Egypt
Pisanty, S. 1981. The Fishery and management of the hypersaline lagoon of Bardawil. Studies and Reviews. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. No. 58. Rome, FAO.
Saleh, M. 2008. Capture-based aquaculture of mullets in Egypt. In A. Lovatelli & P.F. Holthus, eds. Capture-based aquaculture. Global overview, pp. 109–126. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 508. Rome, FAO.
Sadek, S.S. 2001. Marine Aquaculture in Egypt. Megapesca Lda. 33 pp.
Shaltout, K.H. 2010. Towards mainstreaming lake Burullus biodiversity, North Egypt. A Review Article. Assyout Univ. Bull. Environ. Res., 13: 71–87.
Shaltout, K.H. and Khalil, M.T. 2005. lake Burullus (Burullus Protected Area). Publication of Biodiversity Unit, No. 13. Cairo, Egypt, State Ministry of Environment. 578 pp.