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Title: Patchwork of oil and gas facilities in Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf has the potential to enhance local fisheries production
Authors: Rabaoui, Lotfi; Lin, Yu-Jia; Qurban, Mohammad A.; Maneja, Rommel H.; Franco, Javier; Joydas, Thadickal V.; Panickan, Premlal; Al-Abdulkader, Khaled; Roa-Ureta, Ruben H.
Citation: ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE, 2015, 72, 2398-2408
Abstract: Because of the increasing oil industry development in the Arabian Gulf, hundreds of oil and gas facilities have been installed in both offshore and inshore areas during the last few decades. However, no studies have been conducted till now on the influence of these platforms on the structure and composition of marine faunal assemblages. The present work addresses this issue to propose environmental management measures connected to the utilization of fishery resources. Offshore and inshore surveys were carried out along the Saudi Gulf waters using trawl and beach-seine nets, respectively. Data relative to only fish (offshore) and fish and invertebrates (inshore) were collected concurrently with several factors: density of oil and gas facilities (offshore), distance to the nearest coastal platform (inshore), oceanographic variables, and habitat characteristics. Results of offshore surveys indicated higher fish density-both total and of fishery resources-in locations with a higher number of oil and gas facilities within a 5 km radius, whereas biomass density was not significantly different. Hence, oil and gas facilities seem to serve as nursery areas for small fish. For inshore communities, more species and diversity were found in stations closer to coastal oil and gas facilities. In addition, among the five coastal embayments sampled, those with more oil and gas facilities had more species. The findings of the present work support the hypothesis of a positive net ecological role of oil and gas platforms of the Saudi Arabian Gulf, with the implication that this effect could be extended to improve the sustainability of important fishery resources.
Keywords: Arabian Gulf; artificial reefs; faunal assemblages; fishery production; marine protected areas; Saudi Arabia; SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT; MARINE PROTECTED AREAS; OFFSHORE OIL; RENEWABLE ENERGY; ENVIRONMENTAL-FACTORS; CONTINENTAL-SHELF; OF-MEXICO; FISH; PLATFORMS; ASSEMBLAGES
Issue Date: 2015
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS
Type: Article
Language: English
DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsv072
URI: http://dspace.azti.es/handle/24689/216
ISSN: 1054-3139
E-ISSN: 1095-9289
Funder: Saudi Aramco Oil Co. (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia)
Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture
Appears in Publication types:Artículos científicos



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