$ 88.2 million investment needed to overhaul Morocco's fisheries sector

An investment of USD 88.2 million will help tackle the problems facing the Moroccan fisheries sector.

Although the fisheries accord with the European Union (EU) expired in 1999, the sector is still facing several problems, most importantly the drop of investments, said Director General of the National Fisheries Office (ONP), Majed Kassir El- Ghaib. In addition, he noted, the Moroccan fleet is lacking EU-standards boats.

In an interview published Thursday by "Al-Ittihad Al-Ichtirakki" daily, El-Ghaib explained that a five-year plan projects investments to upgrade the sector with an average of MAD 120 million to MAD 140 million investments a year (USD 14.1 Mn to USD 16.4 Mn). These measures, he said, will help improve profitability and production.

Despite the problems facing the sector, the volume of fish catches in Moroccan ports has increased from 626,000 tons a year in 1994-1999 to 870,000 tons a year in 2000-2004, he said.

He added that the total volume of fish (octopus excluded) catches rose by 9pc annually, while exports increased by 7pc to reach nearly MAD 10 million (USD 1.17 million).