Marine and Coastal Ecosystem

Release date	07/08/2017
Contributor	sbuqaeen
Geographical coverage	Jordan
Keywords	Scientific, Gulf, studies, coastal, marine

MARINE AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

The marine environment in Jordan has not received much scientific attention in the past decades. Although, some scientific studies have begun, the situation in the Gulf has been changing rapidly as intense commercial and industrial development takes place along the coast. Furthermore, these studies were mostly limited to coastal and shallow water. No study, to the best of our knowledge, was conducted on the deeper sections of the Jordanian side of the Gulf. In addition, a good part of the recorded species is subject to discussion on the basis of their taxonomic validity.

Aqaba marine coastal management and the establishment of Aqaba Marine Park. This project started in 1995 in cooperation with the Aqaba Regional Authority, Global Environmental Facility and the EU. Main objectives of the project: To promote conservation of the marine biodiversity, establish a coastal management plan as well as build up environmental capacity of the Aqaba Regional Authority. Outputs of the project has resulted in the creation of the first Marine Reserve, a Coastal Management Master Plan for the Aqaba Coast and the establishment of an Environmental Unit at the Aqaba Regional Authority.

Marine Biodiversity

The Jordanian coastline covers about 27 km at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which extends for about 180 km from the Jordanian shore in the north to the Strait of Tiran in the south. It has an average width of 20 km and an average depth of 800 m. The Gulf of Aqaba consists of a series of embayments, each including comparatively similar communities including: rocky shore, reef flat, reef face, fore reef, sandy shore, sandy bottom and seagrass ecosystems. There is a discontinuous series of coral reefs and reef flats, never more than 150m wide, over a length of 13km.

The Gulf of Aqaba’s global importance stems from its geographical location, as it is the only inland connection between Africa and Eurasia. The marine environment maintains more than 510 marine fish species, 5% of which are endemic. It is estimated that there are 25 endemic species of fish occurring only in the Red Sea, and these are profoundly found in reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba. Included here is the Indo-Pacific Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulates) which is listed by IUCN as endangered, and three species of the Marine Turtle (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, and Eretmochelys imbricate) which are globally endangered. There are also species of high economic value, including tuna and sardine.

Coral and Reef Fish: The Gulf of Aqaba sustains about 270 species of coral. In terms of relative abundance on Jordanian reefs, the five most abundant fish species are: Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Chromis viridis, Dascyllus aruanus, Paracheilinus octotaenia, and Dascyllus marginatus.

Seagrass: Seagrass meadows form the bulk of the biomass upon which other organisms in the benthic community depend, and are globally accepted as a good indicator of water quality. At least 3 species of seagrass occur here: including Halodu leuninervis, Halophila ovalis, and Halophilas tipulacea.

Bacteria and Phytoplankton: Bacterial and pico-phytoplankton biodiversity surveys in the Gulf of Aqaba are very rare, due to the lack of infrastructure and human capacity. However, in 2014, Aqaba witnessed the commissioning of the first marine microbiology and molecular biology laboratory at the University of Jordan Aqaba Branch, Laboratory for Molecular Marine Ecology (LaMME). The first set of DNA barcoding for marine life in the Gulf of Aqaba will be presented during the Aqaba International Conference on Marine Sciences and Environment in 2014.

Zooplankton: A total of 82 species of different mesozooplankton groups and larval stages of various other organisms have been identified. Copepods are, by far, the most abundant and ubiquitous mesozooplankton organisms. The seasonal and spatial distribution of mesozooplankton in the Gulf of Aqaba has implications for fishing, ecosystem health, as a baseline to gauge impacts for future developments along the Jordanian coast, and to predict the most polluted site within the coastal stations.

Threats to marine life and fisheries include:

-Oil spills;

-Over-fishing of high value marine and coastal resources;

-Destruction of coral reefs and shallow water habitat though inadequate anchoring practices;

-Coastal erosion and depletion of mangroves;

-By-catch of non targeted or protected species;

-Use of illegal fishing gears and fishing out of season;

-Introduction of alien fish species.

MARINE LIFE AND FISHERIES

Strategic Objectives:

Ensure the conservation of marine and coastal life and the sustainable harvesting of commercial fish.

Operational Objectives:

*Promote the use of environmentally sound fishing techniques.

*Ensure the protection of coral reefs and coastal zones in general.

*Monitor the status of marine species and habitats and the negative impacts threatening their survival.

Priority Actions:

Establishment of a Fisheries and Marine Life Institution.

Improvement of commercial and artisanal fisheries.

Fish farming development.

Main problems facing the Marine Reserve

Although the first marine reserve was established and conservation activities were started in Aqaba, the reserve’s management plan is not yet finalized and capacity building is needed for the staff and local communities. Legislation here causes a main problem because the laws are not clear nor properly enforced to ensure the conservation of coastal areas and especially the coral reefs. Another important problem is inadequate public awareness and support. A lot of efforts will have to be conducted to gain a wider public support for the reserve.