An Environmental Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Recreational SCUBA diving on Coral Reef Systems in Hurghada, The Red Sea, Egypt

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorKangas, Patrick C.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSerour, Ramy Khaleden_US
dc.contributor.departmentMarine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciencesen_US
dc.date.accessioned2004-06-04T05:42:15Z
dc.date.available2004-06-04T05:42:15Z
dc.date.issued2004-05-11en_US
dc.description.abstractDuring visits to coral reef locations, divers support the economy by spending money on goods and services provided by local businesses. However, divers also impact the reef during their visits, causing stress. This study presents estimates of rates of damage to corals and assesses patterns of dive behavior on selected sites. I also present an economic analysis of diving activities in the region and propose an estimate of diver "carrying capacity", using an emergy-based approach. While diving tourism generates revenues in the order $5-8.3 million annually, divers inflict damage to the coral reef at a rate of ~1250 potentially damaging contacts a day at the most heavily used sites. As a result, I suggest that these sites should be subject to 13,000-14,000 dives per year. This study aims to provide valuable information for the development of management plans to regulate diving operations and reduce reef degradation in the region.en_US
dc.format.extent1935377 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1447
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledEnvironmental Sciencesen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Ecologyen_US
dc.titleAn Environmental Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Recreational SCUBA diving on Coral Reef Systems in Hurghada, The Red Sea, Egypten_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
umi-umd-1553.pdf
Size:
1.85 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

UMD Theses and Dissertations
Biology Theses and Dissertations
MEES Theses and Dissertations