The waters of the Red Sea are highly productive. They support substantial populations of diverse marine species, with around 1,000 known species of fish and 220 species of coral. Sambuqs are used for fishing, as well as for trading - their size allows the fishermen to fish sharks and cross easily the Red Sea. Houris can hold 6-7 men while sambuqs can carry up to 10 people. The fishing methods used are gillnet for shark and pelagic fish, and hand line for demersal fish.
All activities are manual - there are no hauling devices.
By the end of the seventies, the fisheries had almost collapsed. In mid eighties, catches were estimated at around 2,000 tons, almost all landed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Fishermen travelled long distances in order to fish and sell their catch. In the southern Red Sea Province, they spent two to four months in remote places catching and drying fish before crossing the Red Sea to sell their products and buy fuel and food to take home. Efforts have been made to rehabilitate fisheries during the last five years.