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Dakar – King Mohammed VI and Senegalese president, Macky Sall, launched, on Monday in Dakar, the Octopus Development Plan for the benefit of Senegal.
The Plan, whose implementation memorandum of understanding was inked today under the chairmanship of the two leaders, will be carried out over five phases and seeks mainly octopus’ preservation and promotion, the restoration of this resource stock and its protection against socio-economic impacts.
The first phase will concern the setting up of a methodological working group tasked with determining the plan and zone for scientific exploration, elaborating a sampling strategy and campaign planning.
Two bilateral meetings yearly will be held between the Moroccan and Senegalese scientists. The second phase, related to the scientific campaign, touches on operations of bathymetric scanning and trawling, an inventory of species and biological sampling, sampling and measurements of oceanographic parameters. Two campaigns will be organized annually during hot and cold seasons.
The third phase is aimed at statistic and geostatistic treatment, the establishment of a cartography on distributions, demographic structures of biological parameters, and abundances and biomasses. The joint working group will hold a meeting at the end of mission (Morocco-Senegal).
The fourth phase involves the assessment and modeling of the exploitable potential through the evaluation of potentialities of optimal capture and the assessment of exploitation scenarios and fishing effort. This stage will lead to the setting up of a stock evaluation group.
The fifth concerns the establishment of the development plan related to sensitive zones and periods (biological rest periods and threatened zones), the biomass and exploitable potential (fishing quota), in addition to the fishing dynamic and strategy (development unit). A triennial scientific evaluation group will be created in this regard.
On this occasion, the King handed the Senegalese authorities a grant composed of 12 engines (inflatable boats) for rescue operations and monitoring fishing activities.
