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Rabat – Representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) visited the Tiguert-Imiouadar project site on the outskirts of Agadir to share expertise with Moroccan fishermen in the development of shellfish aquaculture.
The visit, which took place on February 13 in collaboration with Morocco’s National Agency for the Development of Aquaculture (ANDA), aimed to contribute to the promotion of the aquaculture sector in the country.
JICA and ANDA appear set to boost the aquaculture sector through the verification of mussel farming methods while strengthening the technical capacity in terms of the expertise accumulated by Japan, with a less expensive investment.
In a statement to Morocco’s state agency, Aicha El Alaoui, head of the bilateral cooperation department at ANDA, highlighted that the improving Moroccan-Japanese cooperation in aquaculture has empowered Moroccan fishermen to strengthen their skills in shellfish farming.
El Alaoui noted that the activity’s income has an added value to the socio-economic development of Morocco’s Souss-Massa region.
Mohamed Bouhia, president of the artisanal fishery cooperative Aftas Tiguert, said in a statement to Morocco’s state agency that such an initiative would allow fishermen in the region to benefit from the experience of Japanese experts.
Bouhia also underlined that the Tiguert-Imiouadar project will further improve the practice of aquaculture in the region.
The Japanese experts of JICA first visited the Tiguert-Immiouadar project in 2019 to review existing mussel farming facilities.
The project, however, was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the second mission took over again in August 2021.
With its exceptional water quality and natural conditions favorable to farming a large range of species, the quantity of marketed coastal and traditional fishing products in Morocco increased by 34% in 2021.
In 2018, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on “the state of fisheries and aquaculture” ranked Morocco 13th globally and first in Africa, with 1.4 million tonnes of fish production.
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