The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to use GPS and satellite maps to photograph Egypt’s Northern Lakes in order to protect the lakes from pollution and encroachments, said Amin Abaza, minister of agriculture in a press statement Thursday.
Greater protection of the lakes will increase fish production and lower the price of fish on the market, he added.
The first map has already been completed for Lake Borollos, said Mohamed Othman, head of the General Authority for Fish Resources Development. "With this map, we can detect encroachments immediately," he said, adding, "We will also know right away if sewage or industrial waste has been dumped there illegally."
The same procedure is taking place for the Northern Lakes of Manzala, Bardawil, Idku and Mariout, with the intention of increasing their fish production capacities, Othman added. "Egypt’s total fish production is over one million tons per year, 50 percent of which comes from artificial fisheries, over 1000 tons from the lakes, and the rest from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean," he explained.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
