At a meeting held in Rabat on May 16 and 17, the Russian-Moroccan Joint Fisheries Commission took stock and followed up on cooperation on the fisheries agreement signed in 2023. The latter, recalls- t-on will end at the end of the current financial year.
Also, some arrangements have been agreed for the remaining period pending its renewal and a work plan has even been drawn up and signed, according to a press release from the Federal Fisheries Agency.
Russia and Morocco discussed the implementation of the decisions of the previous session of the joint commission. The two States intend to encourage cooperation between companies in the fields of shipbuilding and repair, the manufacture of fishing gear, training, the exchange of experiences, the trade in fish and fishing. aquaculture.
Both sides welcomed the results of joint work in the field of research expeditions to study and monitor the state of stocks and the ecosystem of small pelagics in the Atlantic zone of Morocco by the National Institute maritime fisheries research and its Russian counterpart in accordance with the agreements of October 14, 2020.
These agreements offer small pelagic fishing opportunities to Russian trawlers in Moroccan waters along the Atlantic coast from the Strait of Gibraltar to the border with Mauritania (the Mediterranean being excluded from the cooperation frameworks due to the nature of artisanal mining for the benefit of local populations and the fragility of its ecosystem).
Just like with other countries, Japan (tuna) or European Union (EU)… Morocco benefits from substantial funding for the development of the fishing sector, various technical cooperation actions, as well as employment opportunities – coaching for Moroccan sailors.
That said, the agreements with the Russian Federation, in addition to specifying the fishing conditions for vessels flying the Russian flag in the maritime areas of the Kingdom’s Atlantic coast, also define the terms of cooperation in terms of the preservation and exploitation of fishery resources and put in place a legal framework.
Scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries also allows Moroccan students to benefit from training grants in Russian institutions specializing in fishing. This is in order to promote the interaction of the two countries in fisheries research, the development of fishing and processing techniques and technologies as well as the development of aquaculture.
On the other hand, the joint committee attributed to the Russian fishing activity in Moroccan waters which offers employment opportunities to Moroccan fishermen at the rate of 16 sailors per vessel at all times, a specific character as to the quota granted. On the other hand, as regards the financial terms, it has not been said whether they have been discussed.
In the past, an overall quota to be exploited (129,500 tonnes of small pelagics) was planned for this purpose and the overall annual financial contribution was estimated at around 22 million US dollars. It goes without saying that to this were added the costs of the annual scientific research campaigns, port costs paid to the ANP, the cost of employing Moroccan sailors on board Russian ships, an annual compensation representing the access to the resource, the annual fee and the regulatory fees for fishing licenses.