Morocco Investigates Orca Encounters with Fishing Boats, Officials Say Attacks Not Hostile

Responding to a question from the Haraki group in the House of Representatives, Zakia Driouich indicated that the National Institute of Fisheries Research is intensifying its research to find an explanation for the behavior of orcas and determine the urgent measures to be taken to reduce these attacks on fishing boats. The Institute is also active in collecting information from fishermen in order to deepen the analysis of the reasons for these orca attacks.

The Secretary of State added that the preparation of risk maps is "currently being adopted by the competent Moroccan authorities", mentioning a scientific partnership between the National Institute of Fisheries Research and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography aimed at expanding the exploration area to Spanish waters and those located north of Larache in order to determine the distribution of orcas south of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Zakia Driouich also reported that modern equipment, such as smartphones acquired under the "Guardian Fisheries" program, are used to monitor these orca attacks. Last year, a working group composed of orca specialists and representatives of the competent authorities of Morocco, Spain and Portugal concluded that orca attacks on fishing boats are neither hostile nor violent.

According to the experts, these attacks are reactions of curiosity or defense of the orcas in the face of fishing activities that they consider a threat. However, studies are continuing to better understand the behavior of orcas and assess the impact of human activities, such as fishing and pollution, on the orcas’ living environment, in order to propose viable solutions to this phenomenon, she concluded.