Ecosystem-based Management of Marine Resources

Kuwait’s economic growth and shoreline development has resulted in a compromised marine ecosystem and the degradation of various marine species’ habitats. Marine ecosystem biodiversity has also been affected by the unregulated exploitation of the marine environment by the fishing industry and by the unregulated discharge of the sewage, oil, and desalination industries. As a result of these challenges, Kuwait’s fishery stocks are overfished, their ecosystems are threatened, and their population can only meet 10-20% of the nation’s demand. As a response to these concerns, the EBMMR Program was created to assess the impact of anthropogenic activity as well as climate change on the marine ecosystem of Kuwait, the Shatt Al-Arab River, and the greater Arabian Gulf. The program suggests sound national policies to ensure the sustainable exploitation of these shared national and regional treasures.