Fisheries joint commission meets in Lisbon

The Moroccan-Portuguese fisheries joint commission held a meeting here over the weekend to assess the progress made in implementing the decisions made by previous meetings and examine bilateral cooperation in matters of scientific research, fisheries industries and maritime staff training.

Talks also covered means of consolidating relations between the Moroccan "Office National Des Peches" and its Portuguese peer "Docapesca" and of upgrading partnership between the two countries' private sectors.

The Moroccan delegation to the meeting was led by minister in charge of maritime fisheries, Thami Khyari.

Portugal is among the European countries that benefit from the Morocco-European Union fisheries accord under which nearly 600 European trawlers, mainly Spanish and Portuguese, operate in Moroccan waters.

Morocco has announced that it will not renew the four-year accord that expires in 1999 in a bid to protect its depleting sea resources. It proposes to the Portuguese and to the spaniards another cooperation and partnership formula, providing for the promotion of sea products industries, scientific research, vocational training, shipyards as well as the modernization and extension of Moroccan fishing ports.