RIYADH: The central challenge in fisheries management is not only overfishing itself, but the uncertainty surrounding it — where it occurs, how it unfolds, and even whether it is happening at all.
“We’re still missing the basics-abundance trends, spawning areas, connectivity across the Red Sea, even how much fishing effort is actually happening,” said Jessica Mason, assistant professor of marine sciences at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, in an interview with Arab News.
According to Mason, Saudi Arabia lacks comprehensive and continuous monitoring systems in the Red Sea. Data collection remains fragmented across stakeholders, constraining researchers’ ability to build a complete picture of marine conditions or design effective management strategies.
Yet this gap, she suggested, also presents a rare opportunity.
“Because Saudi Arabia is developing now, it has the opportunity to build holistic environmental planning from the start. Other places developed tourism first and managed fisheries later — we can do both together.”
Mason’s research spans fisheries and food security, with a focus on strengthening the sustainability and resilience of reef fisheries and aquatic food systems. Her work includes developing tools to inform fisheries management and examining the links between ecosystems and human health.
Beyond declining fish stocks, she pointed to less visible consequences of overfishing, particularly shifts in the size and age structure of fish populations. Such changes reduce reproductive capacity and hinder recovery.
“We end up with smaller fish, and the breeding individuals are gone, which means the ones contributing most to recovery are no longer there,” Mason said.
These disruptions extend through entire food webs, altering ecosystem function and triggering cascading effects that undermine reef health.
The stakes are especially high in the Red Sea. Renowned for its exceptional biodiversity and distinct environmental gradients, the region holds both ecological and economic significance. Its reef systems are globally unique in scale, while its ecosystems underpin food security and a rapidly expanding tourism sector.
Within this ecosystem, two groups of fish play particularly critical roles: parrotfish and groupers. Parrotfish act as grazers, clearing algae and enabling coral growth, while groupers serve as key predators that maintain balance within the food web. Overfishing either group can tip that balance, allowing algae to outcompete coral and weakening reef resilience.
“Some of the most targeted species here are also the most ecologically important.”
Globally, coral reefs are under intensifying pressure from climate change. Rising sea temperatures are driving more frequent bleaching events and accelerating ecosystem shifts. While Red Sea corals exhibit some resilience to heat, they remain vulnerable, particularly when compounded by overfishing and coastal development.
Mason offered a measured assessment: change in some reef systems is inevitable, but meaningful intervention remains possible.
This is where World Tuna Day offers a relevant parallel. Tuna fisheries demonstrate how depleted stocks can recover when guided by science-based management and international cooperation. Species such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna, once severely overfished, have rebounded under strict quotas and monitoring regimes.
However, Mason cautioned against direct comparisons. Tuna fisheries differ fundamentally from those in the Red Sea. Tuna are highly migratory and typically managed as single-species stocks across international boundaries. By contrast, Red Sea fisheries are multi-species, reef-dependent, and often constrained by limited data.
“Reef fisheries are the backbone here — and that makes them much more tightly linked to ecosystem health.”
As a result, the risks extend beyond fish populations to encompass food security, economic stability, cultural practices, and overall ecosystem resilience. Overfishing in such systems can weaken both fisheries and the reefs themselves, increasing vulnerability to additional stressors such as climate change.
Still, the core lesson from tuna fisheries remains applicable: with the right systems in place, overfishing can be prevented — and even reversed.
Mason identified three essential pillars: robust monitoring, science-led management, and coordinated stakeholder engagement.
“You cannot manage what you can’t measure.”
She described science-led fisheries management as an adaptive system built on continuous feedback loops, where scientific data informs monitoring, policy, enforcement, and regulatory measures such as quotas, gear restrictions, and seasonal or spatial closures. Crucially, such systems must integrate both ecological data and socioeconomic realities.
At present, significant knowledge gaps persist in the Red Sea. Baseline data — including species abundance trends, spawning and nursery grounds, connectivity across regions, fishing effort, and vessel activity — remains incomplete. Equally limited is the understanding of how dependent local communities are on fisheries, and how those dependencies are evolving.
At KAUST, researchers are working to address these gaps through expanded reef ecology studies, connectivity research, movement tracking, biodiversity mapping, and assessments of reef resilience.
“We’re developing tools to assess sustainability and understand socioeconomic impacts, including nutrition and human health.”
The Blue KAUST initiative, launched in 2025, aims to integrate data across disciplines to build a comprehensive understanding of the Red Sea and shift management from reactive responses to proactive planning.
Success, however, depends on more than scientific progress. Collaboration with policymakers and stakeholders — alongside effective compliance and enforcement — is critical.
“If stakeholders aren’t coordinated, even the best science will fail.”
Mason emphasized that conservation and development are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, the health of reef ecosystems underpins both fisheries and tourism.
“Protecting fish populations is part of sustainable development — not a barrier to it.”
Healthy reefs sustain fish stocks and attract visitors, while degraded ecosystems diminish both ecological integrity and economic value.
“Tourism depends on healthy ecosystems- people don’t want to dive in degraded reefs.”
With adaptive, science-driven management supported by continuous monitoring and effective policymaking, Saudi Arabia has the potential to emerge as a global model for sustainable fisheries governance. “But the window will not stay open forever, we need to act now.”
If successful, such efforts would yield benefits not only for the Kingdom, but far beyond its waters.
