Launched in June 2023 to curb rising shark attacks along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the government’s shark tracking program now faces uncertainty, as environment ministry officials give conflicting accounts over whether the initiative is still active or has been quietly suspended.
A senior ministry official, who requested anonymity, told Al Manassa that only three of the 50 contracted tracking devices were installed before the project was paused and the remaining 47 were stored away.
The program, which cost around 5.5 million Egyptian pounds (about $110,300), was reportedly delayed by issues with a foreign expert initially hired to install the devices.
“The foreign expert lacked the necessary technical skills,” the official said. “She was replaced, but the ministry never announced a new plan or resumed work, despite nearly two years having passed since the launch.”
The official estimated that the current market value of the unused equipment exceeds 20 million pounds (about $401,300).
Marine geologist Mahmoud Abd El-Radi, a professor of oceanography, described the project as a failure.
“There were no useful data outputs,” he told Al Manassa. “There was no clear scientific strategy, nor genuine collaboration with research institutions. The whole thing was confined within the ministry’s bureaucracy.”
Similarly, Dr. Mahmoud Moati, a fisheries biology researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, contrasted Egypt’s experience with successful global models such as the Red Sea Sharks initiative abroad.
“We bought 50 trackers, used only three, and then stopped. It feels like the purchase itself was the end goal,” he said.
A second source at the ministry, who also spoke to Al Manassa, rejected claims that the project was discontinued.
“The program is still ongoing,” the source said. “Installation began in early 2024, and results require long-term observation.”
According to the ministry’s original plan, the project was to unfold in three phases over 18 months. The third phase—data analysis—should have concluded by now.
Earlier this year, head of Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency Dr. Ali Abou Sena told local media that initial findings were “promising but will need years to fully understand shark behavior.”
The project was launched in response to a series of shark attacks along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, according to Dr. Moati. In 2009, a French tourist was killed while diving in Marsa Alam. The following year, a German tourist died, and several others were injured in a string of shark attacks in Sharm El-Sheikh.
The incidents continued in subsequent years. In 2014, a local fisherman was killed by a tiger shark in Marsa Alam, followed by the death of a German swimmer in Al-Qusair in 2015. A year later, a young Egyptian man died after a shark bite in Marsa Alam, and in 2017, a young woman was attacked in the same area.
In 2018, the body of a Czech tourist was found on a Hurghada beach. The following year, a German tourist survived a shark attack thanks to a swift rescue. In 2022, two women were killed in Hurghada. In 2023, a Russian tourist died after an attack by a tiger shark, and an Egyptian woman was seriously injured in Dahab. Most recently, in 2024, a tourist was killed and another injured in Marsa Alam.
