Welcome to red sea sharks...

The sharks of the Red Sea are the focus of a long-term research program to be launched by HEPCA (Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association) to gather information on their population structure, ecology and behaviour for better future conservation measures.

Why Sharks?

Shark populations worldwide have been pushed to the brink of extinction within only a few decades. Millions die every year because of the insatiable human demand for shark fins, and the highly destructive, unselective fishing methods practised by the industry around the globe.

The sharks' disappearance is worrying on a number of levels. As top oceanic predators, they are of fundamental importance to the balance of the marine ecosystem. Removing them on a large scale has severe consequences through succeeding layers of the marine food web. It has altered other species' abundance, distribution and diversity, and impacted the health of a variety of marine habitats, including sea grass beds and coral reefs. A recovery from depletion is hard to accomplish, since the larger pelagic shark species especially, have a very low reproductive potential; they take years to reach sexual maturity and produce very few young.

Besides ecological considerations, the high economic value of living sharks is widely recognised today. Shark diving is a growing industry; the interest in encountering sharks underwater creates far more revenue than the one-time profit to be gained from killing them.

All these factors have researchers and conservationist campaigning to convince law makers and governmental bodies to finally step up and include more shark species in their protection schemes. These efforts are hampered by the lack of available information on basic population parameters and life history patterns of many of the depleted shark species, which are necessary to create and implement effective conservation programs.

 

Examples of Red Sea shark species (from left to right): tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), grey reef shark (C. amblyrhynchos), oceanic whitetip shark (C. longimanus), scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), and pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus) [© Elke Bojanowski].

Why Red Sea sharks?

As far as we know, the sharks in the Red Sea are in no better situation than their conspecifics around the globe. Fishing pressure has (and has had) an impact of unknown magnitude, and although the sharks' economic value is undisputed, scientific data is scarce; information on population status and ecological needs is insufficient or doesn't exist at all.

To rectify that situation, HEPCA is launching a comprehensive research project on Red Sea Sharks, using such diverse methods as a volunteer monitoring program, photo-identification, electronic tracking, and dedicated surveys.

This website will give you background information as well as regular updates and news on the progress of this research program. Further information, plus details on other conservation and research initiatives in the Egyptian Red Sea, can be found at the HEPCA website: www.hepca.com.