No to fishing accord, yes to onshore cooperation, Khyari says

Fishery Minister Thami Khyari said Morocco means to make of the fishery sector an engine of the country's economic growth.

Khyari told the weekly "La Vie Economique" the Moroccan stand on fisheries relations with the European Union is clear-cut: No to a new fishing agreement, yes to cooperation accords excluding the fishing activity as such.

The minister said there was no more room for the European fleet in Moroccan waters because stocks are on the verge of collapse, without giving the alarming figures crowning an evaluation of the sector activity.

Khyari said he invited, as an answer to a letter, European Agriculture and Fishery Commissioner Frank Fisher to come to Morocco as of Oct 19 not for talks but to let him know true motives behind the Moroccan stand.

To whether agriculture would be used for leverage to wrestle concessions for the fishing activity, the minister said agriculture is a separate sector to be negotiated separately.

Khyari said the Moroccan fishing sector, now considering quota systems, was adversely affected by over-fished waters asserting that a 30% increase in national output, in terms of fiscal revenues, will help the country cash in the amount served as compensation by the EU.