Morocco Proposes Stricter Laws to Combat Illegal Fishing and Boost Sustainability

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, this draft law comes within the framework of supporting the evolution of the maritime fishing sector as a strategic lever for sustainable development. This text will allow the government to strengthen the system of control of fishing vessels and the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The provisions aimed at defining new offenses recently detected, in particular the transport of a fishery product from IUU fishing, the exceeding of the percentage allocated to fishing vessels for bycatch species and navigation with an inoperative or malfunctioning positioning and location device are contained in this new text.

This draft also provides for penalties for non-compliance with the measures enacted by the law. Any person who has fished or attempted to fish or have fished species other than those specified on the fishing license or who does not comply with the requirements stated on the fishing license is liable to a prison sentence of 3 months to 1 year and/or a fine of 5,000 to 1,000,000 DH. The same penalties will also be imposed on any captain or skipper of a fishing vessel who carries out transhipment operations of marine species in the exclusive economic zone, not justified by force majeure or distress outside a Moroccan port, without prior authorization, or in violation of the provisions of the law.

The text has also provided for penalties for any organizer of fishing days at sea who does not comply with the fishing license he holds. This concerns, among other things, the number of people authorized to fish simultaneously, the species, the quality of catches authorized, the fishing gear authorized and the authorized area(s) and dates of fishing.