Distribution and diversity of fish species exposed to artisanal fishery along the Sudanese Red Sea coast

AbstractThe semi-enclosed Red Sea harbours one of the longest coral-reef ecosystems on the planet. The ≈ 850 km section of the western shore, comprising the coastline of the Red Sea State of the Republic of Sudan, has however been sparsely studied. Sudan’s coral reef fishery provides livelihoods to fishers and business opportunities by means of local and regional trade, however, the knowledge level of the state of the natural resources and the impacts of fisheries are poorly known. Here we report the results from the first three comprehensive fisheries research surveys spanning the entire Sudanese coast in 2012-13, representing a new baseline for the western coast fisheries resources. The s…