THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Climate change has impact on Morocco's fisheries.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Climate change has impact on Morocco's fisheries.

Australia is a about as far from Morocco as you can get, but research being conducted by an Australian could well have huge implications for Morocco's fishing industry.

Dr Helen McGregor, of the University of Wollongong in Australia, has been conducting research off the north-west coast of Africa that shows global warming has already changed ocean currents in a way that could have a serious impact on fisheries. The warming has led to an increase in a phenomenon called "ocean upwelling", in which deep, cold water, usually rich in nutrients, moves upwards to replace warmer surface water.

"Our research suggests that upwelling will continue to intensify with future greenhouse warming, potentially impacting the sensitive ecosystems and fisheries in these regions," Helen said.

Her team collected sediment cores off the Moroccan coast to obtain a record of sea surface temperatures for the past 2500 years. It showed water temperatures off Morocco dropped by 1.2 degrees during the 20th century, and the period from 1965 to 1998 was particularly cold. Helen said this was the result of global warming altering coastal wind patterns in a way that strengthened the ocean's cold-water pump.

Dr McGregor's report, which has just been published in the journal Science, said there was evidence of similar upwellings in the Arabian Sea, off California, Peru and Chile, also apparently driven by higher temperatures and shifts in winds tied to greenhouse gases.

The upwellings could be commercially important because areas where cooler waters rise near coasts provide about 20 per cent of the world's fish catch even though they cover less than one per cent of the world's ocean surface. However scientists at research institutes in Germany, Australia and Romania, do not predict whether fish stocks would get bigger or smaller because of the increased upwelling.

"Upwelling regions...show extremely high levels of biological activity, yet the ecosystem response in these regions is dependent on a complex balance of temperature, ocean chemistry, ocean circulation, and fishing pressure," it said. The report, reconstructing a 2,500-year record of temperatures based on seabed sediments off Morocco, said surface waters were the coolest from 1965-98 because of cool waters from the depths.

"These results strongly imply that upwelling may continue to intensify with future increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and global warming," Helen said.

Morocco's Fisheries - a quick snapshot

As the only North African country without oil, Morocco has had to make the most of its other advantages. The ocean off Morocco's Atlantic coast is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. All together, Morocco's coast line covers 2,141 miles along the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Fishing has been a major industry in Morocco since the 1930's and the industry experienced tremendous growth during the 1980's. Since 1983, the annual catch has exceeded 430,000 tons.

By the early 1990s exports of fish and fish products were equivalent to 8% of total exports. Over 100,000 Moroccans are employed in the fishing industry. The industry's importance is underscored in both the employment sector and by the over $600 million of foreign exchange that is reaped from the industry each year.

The fishing industry is comprised of two distinct sectors: the costal fishery and the high seas. Moroccan coastal fishery is made up of primarily smaller, wooden boats. These boats catch mainly low-priced fish including sardines, mackerel and anchovies. Morocco's boats are older, poorly managed and lack technical equipment such as fish finding gear. Therefore, the boats engaged in this fishing only stay out at sea for up to three days. Due to their lack of technical accoutrement, specifically coolers, they often times bring back damaged catches.

The coastal fleet consists of approximately 2,609 vessels, of which 378 are trawlers equipped with mechanisms that assist with catching deep dwelling fish such as octopus and squid. This sector of the Moroccan fishing industry is facing stiff competition from more modern, better equipped, European boats, primarily from Spain.

The major species harvested in recent years were sardine (763 689 tonnes), mackerel (25 890 tonnes), horse mackerel (12 268 tonnes) which with anchovy (47 393 tonnes), account for almost 83 percent of the overall landing in quantity.

Landings of white fish have remained relatively stable over the last years. The inability to expand is partially explained by the fact that the stocks are heavily fished.

The most important catches are currently landed in Laayoun. This is due to fish stocks migrating southward. This port and Tan Tan, receive around 80 percent of the total national landings and their importance is steadily increasing.

The fishing area from Safi to Agadir, which supported the largest fishery until the seventies, witnessed a severe drop in resource abundance, which occurred in the early eighties. Consequently, the coastal fleet transferred its activity southward, and the production in the area has been on the decline for nearly 10 years. The downward trend over the last decade made the supply of the canning industry in the area a real issue.

This report compiled with the assistance of the FAO database.