Maghreban sea research institutes meet in Rabat

Rabat is playing host this March 12-15 to a meeting of sea research institutes of Maghreban countries bordering the Mediterranean sea.

The meeting, part of the FAO regional project on fisheries cooperation in the Mediterranean, is meant to promote south-south cooperation and identify topics of bilateral and multilateral research projects.

On the sidelines of the meeting, a workshop on fishery statistics will be held to shed light on the importance of statistics in assessing sea potentials and to standardize statistics compilation systems in the region.

The FAO regional project on fisheries cooperation in the Mediterranean was initiated in 1996 to extend scientific, technical and financial backing to the general commission of fisheries in the Mediterranean.

Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia are associated to the project. The project budget, worth $1.0 million, is provided by Spain over the 1996-2001 period.