Morocco’s Mediterranean Fisheries Face Crisis as Fish Stocks Plummet

Mounir Draz, president of the Mediterranean Chamber of Fisheries, which covers the coastal strip from Larache to Saïdia, confirmed this shortage of fishery resources in the Mediterranean, indicating that this "problem has been going on for years and has not yet been properly addressed."

In a statement to Hespress, he said that professionals in the sector are awaiting the results of scientific studies conducted by the National Institute of Maritime Fisheries Research aimed at restoring the fish stocks that continue to decline in the Mediterranean.

Professionals say they are ready to stop their fishing activities in order to promote this restoration. But they "do not know what is the right time to carry out this operation and whether it will give the right results," says Mounir Draz.

Fish stocks in the various ports affiliated with the Chamber would have decreased by 20 to 30% during this year 2024, which is at the origin of the increase in prices of the various types of fish, in particular sardines, the price of which reached a record of more than 40 dirhams during the summer.