Rabat – Morocco and the EU launched on Wednesday a project to strengthen the Moroccan aquaculture sector.
The project seeks to support the National Agency for the Development of Aquaculture’s (ANDA) objectives to implement aquaculture projects and provide operations with the necessary tools for the management of farms.
Minister of Agriculture Mohamed Sadiki commented on the project, emphasizing Morocco’s keenness to scale up investments in marine aquaculture.
The project is part of Morocco’s “strong mobilization of actors and stakeholders for the development of a sustainable and competitive aquaculture sector,” Sadiki added.
The project will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture in France, with the EU set to finance the joint venture with a €250,000 budget.
The aquaculture program will be managed with the support of the Department of Treasury and External Finance working under Morocco’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the minister explained.
Patricia Llombart Cussac, the EU’s Ambassador to Morocco, said the partnership will allow the creation of over 4,000 direct jobs in addition to indirect jobs in the aquaculture sector.
She described the aquaculture sector as an “innovative” field that can greatly contribute to Morocco’s economic growth with a direct impact on fishermen.
Meanwhile, France’s ambassador to Morocco, Helene Le Gal, described the project as a great support scheme “in terms of developing good practices in the aquaculture sector.”
She added that the project will contribute to ANDA’s ambitions to improve the aquaculture sector in Morocco.
Morocco has been reiterating its interest in boosting the aquaculture sector, and the Moroccan government has repeatedly emphasized the need to take advantage of the country’s 3,500 kilometers of marine coast to create a strengthened aquaculture industry.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aquaculture production reached 1,960 tonnes in Morocco in 2004.
A 2016 study on the sector by the Moroccan Department of Studies and Financial Forecast identified aquaculture as a promising sector in “fast growth and carrier of an important potential.”
However, aquaculture remains a limited activity in Morocco — with low production “not exceeding a volume of 400 tonnes” per year, which accounts for less than 0.1% of the national fish production.
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