We have completed around 400 questionnaires so far. The following analysis takes into account the first 250 entries in our database

These are the results produced by our analysis.

  • Age distribution: 61% of the subjects are bellow their 40's. We observed that the migration flow comprises of young workers around their 20's,that is the age when they take the decision to migrate for the first time in Greece. It is also worth noting that a 16% exceeds the 50 years of age, those predominantly with a long duration of working in Greek fisheries. The average value is 37.7 while 7 out of 10 subjects are between 27 and 47 years of age. The minimum value is 19 while the maximum is 67 years of age.

  • Number of children: There is a strong variance on this parameter. It is observed that workers from older generations tend to have more children than those from earlier ones. The mean value is 2.17 children. Also a 78% of the workers are married while the remaining 22% are single ones. We observe that most subjects have 1 to 4 children. The minimum value is 0 while the maximum is 8 children.

  • Origins: The vast amount of workers (96%) are originating from the Dumiat Governorate and from those, a 90% comes from Izbet El Burg a village in the Northern part of Dumiat, in the Nile delta.

Education: Education in Egypt consists of three levels. The primary school for six years and the preparatory school for other three years. Then the secondary school is for three years from the age of 15 to 17, then followed by the tertiary level. The 71% of our subjects have finished the rpimary school, while 34% have completed the preparatory level and 21% have completed the secondary level. A 27% have not participated in the educational system, most of them from the older generations. Finally we have a 10% that continued to the tertiary level.

We also proved that there exists a negative correlation between age and years in education. This means that younger subjects tend to participate in higher levels of education than do older ones.

  • Language use: We observe that the literacy rate is almost 65%. That means that 1 out of 4 subjects do not have the ability to read and write Arabic. The level of verbal use of the Greek language is relevantly high. It is observed that people who have stayed more than 2 years in Greece have an adequate use of oral Greek. We had first hand experience on this and we can admit that their use of Greek was sufficient, considering the fact that they are somewhat isolated due to the nature of their work. The use of English is limited. Only a 5% have an ease of use.

Language Use/Level / No / Little / Good
Reads Arab / 21% / 15% / 65%
Writes Arab / 23% / 15% / 62%
Speaks Greek / 6% / 65% / 29%
Reads Greek / 85% / 14% / 1%
Writes Greek / 90% / 9% / 1%
Speaks English / 72% / 23% / 5
  • Years working in Greece: A 29% has been employed recently in the Greek fisheries, while 7 out of 10 workers are working from 3 to 17 years in Greece. It is observed that the great percentage are working in Greece for a maximum of 17 years. The mean value is 10,178 while the minimum is 1 and the maximum is 35 working years.

  • Working experience on fishing boats: A 35% has worked less than 5 years on trawlers (in Greece and Egypt), while 50% have also less than 5 years of experience on purse seiners. Most of the workers have acquired experience on purse seiners while working in Greece, as these type of fishing boat is not used in Egyptian waters.

  • Monthly salary: We observe that the mean salary is 1060 euros, while the great percentage of the workers have a salary between 800 and 1300 euros. We also observed a positive correlation between the years of working in Greece and the salary that the workers earn. This means that a worker with more years of employment in Greece will receive a higher salary. The minimum salary osverved is 500 euros while the maximum is 2000 euros.
  • Legal status: 64% of the workers are holders of a Green Card while 36% possess a 9 month Visa.
  • Willingness to work in Aquacultures: The vast majority of the subjects would like to work in the Aquaculture industry or in fish farms. The prerequisite in order to work in the aquacultures in Greece, is to stay in Greece for 11 months per year. These seems to be a problem for a 40% as they seem to prefer the 9 month working period in the open sea fisheries. This provides them with the privilege to spend 3 months time with their families back in Egypt.
  • Extra years intended to stay in Greece: Most of the workers (53%) forsee a period of less than 5 years as the time to extend their employment in Greece. The great majority plan to continue working in Greece up to 10 more years.
  • Willing to work in fish farms upon return to Egypt: The vast majority (94%) would like to work in fish farms upon return to Egypt.
  • Experience in Aquacultures: A 64% has already been employed in aquacultures or fish farms. We have to note that there is a large number of workers that own (them or their families) a fish farm in Egypt and have worked on this field. Some of them have also been employed in the past in Greek aquacultures.