The total saleable catch in 1995 was an estimated 15 tonnes, with a value of 45,000 Jordanian dinars. This represented a significant drop from the 1993 catch of 105 tonnes, and was well below the largest registered catch of 194 tons in 1966. Sites in Djibouti were classified as a subcluster of the southern Red Sea for butterfly fish. The generally turbid conditions of Djibouti reefs are very similar to those prevailing in the southern Red Sea. On the south coast of Djibouti, close to the border with Somalia, the effects of upwelling nutrient-rich water begin to be discernible in fish assemblages.
Water there is very turbid and reefs poorly developed.
They support fewer species and lower abundances of reef-associated fish than reefs further north. Non-reef species are more productive, however, and this area represents the main artisanal fishing ground in Djibouti. In Yemen, the main exports of the fisheries sector include the crustacean shrimps from the Red Sea, mainly Penaeus semisulcatus and P. indicus , and from the Gulf of Aden the rock lobsters Panulirus homarus and P. versiclour , and the deep sea lobster Periulus semelli . Among the molluscs, the main export was the cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis from the Gulf of Aden and dried sea cucumber from mainly the western part of the Gulf of Aden and the northern part of the Yemeni Red Sea waters. UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No.