The Gulf of Gabes, additionally known as Lesser Syrtis, lies on the east coast of Tunisia within the Mediterranean Sea off North Africa.
This shallow gulf within the southwestern a part of the Strait of Sicily is surrounded by the Kerkena Islands on the northeastern aspect and the Djerba Islands on the southeastern aspect. The Gulf has a most size of fifty km and a most width of 70 km, with depths starting from 20 to 50 m.
Read alongside to be taught extra attention-grabbing details in regards to the Gulf of Gabes.
Experiences one of many highest tides within the Mediterranean
The Gulf of Gabes stretches from the coast of Sfax to Djerba, and on the head of the gulf is the place tides with the very best vary, going as much as 2.1 m, have been recorded. However, little is understood in regards to the hydrodynamics of the area.
Several components, like tidal and wind-induced drift currents, baroclinic currents, and many others., affect the residual circulation and water renewal. The Atlantic Current within the western Mediterranean enters the Strait of Sicily and divides into 2 branches; one flows to the southeastern Mediterranean and the opposite to the south, influencing the circulation on the mouth of the Gulf of Gabes.
Known by completely different names like Khaleej Gabiss
The Gulf of Gabes has been referred to as by completely different names all through historical past. However, it’s popularly referred to as Khaleej Gabiss by North Africans and Tunisians.
It has been referred to as Syrtis Minor in Latin by Pling the Elder, whereas Strabo used the title ‘’Syris of the lotus-eaters’.
Strabo calls Gabes a significant entrepot of the Lesser Syrtis. In Book IV of the Histories, Herodotus mentions a disturbing ritual carried out within the area.
During a pageant for Goddess Athena, the younger girls had been divided into 2 camps after which fought one another utilizing stones and wood golf equipment. It is alleged that they enacted a ceremony carried out by their ancestors to honour Athena, and people girls who died from the injuries and accidents had been referred to as false virgins.
The Gulf of Gabes has a Mediterranean local weather
The area has a Mediterranean local weather with gentle winters and scorching dry summers because it lies close to the Sahara Desert. The metropolis of Gabes additionally will get scanty rainfall and experiences a desert-like local weather; nevertheless, it’s nonetheless tempered by the encompassing seawater.
Several salt lakes referred to as chotts or shatts are scattered east-west on the northern fringe of the Sahara, spanning from the Gulf of Gabes into Algeria.
The Gulf of Gabes is understood for its biodiversity
The Gulf of Gabes, with its big continental shelf and shallow waters, is a novel habitat attributable to its huge Posidonia Oceanica Seagrass meadows, stated to be the most important within the Mediterranean Sea. They take in carbon dioxide, and their carbon absorption charge surpasses that of tropical forests.
Over 650 species of marine animals reside right here, and several other migratory species rely on this area as a nursery and spawning floor. Cephalopods, turtles and crustaceans listed on IUCN’s record of endangered species come to the waters of the Gulf to breed.
The Gulf of Gabes can also be house to Tuna sponges and sharks. Studies within the space have proven that it’s a nursery space for elasmobranch sharks and rays.
It has 2 coastal ecosystems which act as nurseries for a lot of fish, like Boughrara and El Bibane Lagoons. Boughrara is the most important lagoon in Tunisia, spanning 123552.69 acres and housing 72 species of fauna, together with 30 fish species. Also, 78% of Tunisia’s lagoon fishermen are right here.
El Bibane Lagoon, close to the Libyan border, is house to 60 fish species distributed amongst 31 households. Animal species within the Gulf of Gabes is 667 and is dominated by Pisces species, molluscs and sponges.
Gabès and Sfax are main ports on the Gulf of Gabes
Port of Gabes lies 60 km west of Djerba, providing a sheltered harbour. It has 2 breakwaters and primarily offers with grains, fertilisers, chemical merchandise, oil and cement.
The business port of Gabes is especially engaged within the transit of chemical merchandise for the neighbouring factories within the industrial property of Gabes metropolis.
The important import objects are sulphur and ammonia, whereas the key items for export are phosphoric acid and phosphate fertiliser. Approximately 400 vessels go to the port, and 4,100,000 tonnes of cargo is dealt with on the facility yearly.
Another principal port is Sfaz, mendacity on the northern entrance of the Gulf of Gabes, between Djerba and Sousse, west of Kerkenah islands. It has three harbours, and its important berths are at Bassin Principal and Nouvelle Darse. The east aspect of the latter accommodates tankers, whereas Basin des Voilliers on the western aspect of the harbour is utilised by authorities marine craft.
A large fishing and leisure harbour lies close to the principle harbour. The port receives shipments of grain, sulphur, common cargo and petroleum merchandise whereas it exports salt, sponges, dates, olive oil, and phosphates.
Sfaz Port has 15 berths which might be visited by 1700 vessels. The port handles 5,500,000 tonnes of cargo yearly.
Djerba and Kerkana Are Two Tunisian Islands within the Gulf of Gabes
The two islands of Djerba and Kerkana are widespread vacationer locations. Djerba is the most important island in North Africa and spans 514 sq km within the Gulf of Gabes off the Tunisian coast. In 2023, it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, given the distinctive historical past of its Jewish minority.
According to some legends, it was the island of lotus-eaters the place Odysseus was stranded throughout his journey by means of the Mediterranean Sea. Referred to as Meninx till the third century AD, Strabo additionally mentions that there was an altar of Odysseus.
The island is a must-visit for nature lovers. It can also be identified for the wetland referred to as Djerba Bin El Ouedian, which attracts many migratory birds.
Kerkennah Island is made up of a gaggle of tiny islands. It was as soon as used as a port within the period of the Roman Empire. The most visited locations on the island are Gharbi and Chergul.
Kerkannah islands are low-lying, and the archipelago has an space of 160 sq km. Populations on these islands decreased after the Nineteen Eighties, owing to the drought that affected irrigation, availability of water and the standard of life generally.
Many rich Tunisians come to spend their holidays right here of their personal houses on the island. Tourists additionally arrive from everywhere in the world.
The metropolis of Gabes lies alongside the Gulf and has a wealthy historical past
One of the most important Tunisian cities, Gabes can also be an industrial centre, with its important industries being cement, bricks, oil refineries and chemical merchandise.
This metropolis was as soon as house to a number of empires and settlers, the primary being the Carthaginians who lived right here earlier than the Roman Empire took over. During Roman instances, Gabes was referred to as Tacape and was part of the province of Tripolitania.
The financial situation worsened through the Arab conquest within the seventh century. After the Ottoman Rule declined, the town of Gabes and its port had been revived step by step through the French Protectorate from 1881-1955. Presently, the town is house to greater than 150,000 individuals and is stuffed with historic locations.
Gulf of Gabes is house to Tunisia’s Oil and Gas Mines
The Gulf of Gabes has two necessary ports, Gabes and Sfax, 2 main ports of Tunisia, with Gabes serving as the executive and financial hub.
The Gulf additionally has oil and gasoline mines, such because the Ashtart Field and the Chergui Field. The Ashtart Oil Terminal lies simply exterior the Gulf of Gabes, the place tankers can tranship the oil.
The Ashtart Field was found in 1971 and has been operational since 1974. It has been developed by Elf-Auiaine Oil Company and contains a single reservoir with a 70 m thickness. The Ashtart subject produced 839 m3/d through the 12 months 2018.
Chegui gasoline subject lies in Tunisia and is operated by Perenco Tunisia. It is located in block Kerkennah West and Chergui with a water depth of 7ft.
About 80% of Gulf of Gabes seafood is exported to EU Nations
The fish exports of Tunisia are an important income supply for the nation and people concerned in it. This is particularly true for the area surrounding the Gulf of Gabes because it has the most important a part of the Tunisian fishing fleet, providing jobs to a number of individuals within the fisheries sector. About 80% of seafood is exported to EU nations, primarily Italy and Spain.
Famous for the ancestral fishing technique referred to as Charfia
A attribute function of the Gulf of Gabes is the usage of an ancestral technique of fishing, which has been widespread among the many fishing communities of the Kerkennah islands. Called Charfia, this features a mounted triangular barrier of palm leaves or nets that direct fish to sure chambers when the tide retreats.
The chamber has small baskets with a gap by means of which the fish enters and will get trapped. Fishers go to their traps usually to empty their baskets filled with fish, letting the juvenile fish go.
This technique has been inscribed on UNESCO’s record of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2020.
Another technique of fishing is widespread within the area, referred to as kiss trawling. Kiss, that means bag in Arabic, is a phrase used within the Gulf of Gabes area to confer with small backside trawls which might be mounted on coastal fishing vessels in very shallow waters.
Though unlawful in Tunisia, it’s utilized by individuals to earn slightly additional in a nation with poverty attributable to financial and political crises. However, this can be a menace to conventional coastal fishing communities. It additionally causes a menace to the seagrass meadows within the Gulf of Gabes.
The variety of such trawlers has elevated from 416 to 576 between 2018 and 2022. Also, a brand new fishing port was constructed in Sisi Mansour, and one other one referred to as Sidi Youssef on the Kerkennah islands was rebuilt and expanded.
Both these ports had kiss trawlers, whereas Sidi Mansour had the most important, numbering 159. This factors to the truth that the state of affairs has certainly worsened and must be addressed instantly by the authorities to guard this distinctive ecosystem.
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About Author
Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid author, possessing immaculate analysis and modifying abilities. Author of a number of educational papers, she has additionally labored as a contract author, producing many technical, artistic and advertising items. A real aesthete at coronary heart, she loves books slightly greater than the rest.
