After all kinds of fishing in the Red Sea has been banned for three months in order to preserve fry, fishermen have resorted to collecting shellfish.
However, this activity is hazardous to the local ecosystem, as many of the species involved are endangered and their extinction would create an ecological imbalance, given that they serve as filters that purify the water.
Mahmoud Abdel Rady of the Institute of Marine Sciences in Hurghada says the shellfish contain between 300g and 2kg of meat. "The fishermen sell them to hotels and restaurants for 350 pounds a kilo,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
