By Undercurrent News…
Morocco’s southern region of Souss-Massa has announced it will be launching 24 aquaculture projects as part of the National Agency for the Development of Aquaculture’s plan to boost the sector in this region, Morocco World News reports.
According to Souss-Massa’s president Brahim Hafidi, these projects include 20 shellfish farms and four seaweed farming projects, which aim to produce around 13,000 metric tons by 2023, create 319 jobs, and support cooperatives of fishermen and young entrepreneurs.
The project comes with a total budget of MAD 248 million ($27.2m), of which MAD 20m comes from the regional council and MAD 12m from the department of maritime fisheries. They are also supported by the United Nations.
The region currently has 11 projects ongoing over 438 hectares, according to Hafidi, which have also attracted foreign investors.
In May, Dutch and Norwegian investors contributed a collective sum of $2.5 million to a fish farming project in Morocco to train local aquaculture technicians and provide them with the necessary skills to run future fish farming projects.
Morocco’s aquaculture sector aims to produce 200,000 metric tons of seafood by the end of the year, which would be equivalent to 11% of the total national fisheries production. The country’s key species include seabass, gilt-head bream, oysters and shrimps.
