History
The fishery of small pelagic species such as anchovy and sardine in Northern Morocco has been a common practice during centuries for vessels coming from the Southern region of the Iberian Peninsula. The enforcement of the Law of the Sea firstly led to the Spanish Fishery Administration and then to the EU (from 1988 onwards) to negotiate the access to the Moroccan fishery resources through fishing agreements. Fisheries in Morocco were closed to the European fleet by the end of November 1999. After six years of closure, a new fishing agreement signed in 2006 between the Kingdom of Morocco and the EU has allowed the Andalusian purse-seine fleet based at Barbate (Cádiz, S Iberian Peninsula) to re-start its fishery in the Atlantic Moroccan waters in April 2007.
Fishing Activity
Type of production system: Commercial; Semi-industrial Fishery Area
Climatic zone: Temperate. Depth zone: Shelf (50 m - 200 m); Slope - Upperslope (200 m - 500 m). Horizontal distribution: Neritic. Vertical distribution: Pelagic.
Geo References for: Morocco Atlantic coast - North Zone
Morocco Atlantic coast - North Zone
| Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ) | MAR - Morocco |
| FAO Fishing Statistical Subdivisions | 34.1.11 - Atlantic, East central / 34.1.11 |
More Geo References
The following area codes have been found as intersecting the location of
Spain Small scale purse seine anchovy fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, North zoneDetails on depth zone: Shelf from 50 m to 300 m.The Moroccan Atlantic coast is part of one of the four major trade-wind driven continental margin upwelling zones in the world oceans, the northwestern African upwelling system (or the Canary Current System). In the Eastern Central Atlantic, the dynamics of an eastern boundary current interacting with trade wind-driven upwelling control this marine ecosystem with exceptionally high primary and secondary productivity (Cury and Roy, 1989; Binet, 1997; Demarcq and Faure, 2000). While coastal upwelling occurs mostly on the shelf, biogenic particles derived from upwelling are deposited mostly at the upper continental slope. Nutrient-rich coastal water is transported within the Cape Ghir filament region at 30°N up to several hundreds of kilometers offshore. Both upwelling intensity and filament activity are dependent on the strength of the summer Trades (Freudenthal et al., 2002).
Associated Species (Bycatch)
Adults
Vessel Type
Purse seinersFlag State
Spain
Purse seiners. The average characteristics in the period 2007-2008 were19 m length, 47.5 GRT and 366 h.p.
Crew
15 persons (Spanish and Moroccan nationalities) (2009)
Fisherfolks Community
Barbate (Cádiz, Andalucía, S Iberian Peninsula) and Moroccan community
Fleet segment
Purse seine for small pelagic fish
The vessels which have usually been benefited from the Morocco fishery licences belong to a fleet segment of heavy-tonnage purse-seiners based at Barbate (Cádiz, S Iberian Peninsula), the so called Barbate’s “Traíñas”. These vessels have traditionally alternated the small pelagics fishery (mainly anchovy) in the North West Moroccan fishing ground and that in the Spanish waters off the Gulf of Cádiz (Millán, 1992). The Barbate’s purse seine fleet was included into the categories called: “Seiners-Northern Cape Noun/North Atlantic/North” of the different agreements.
Fishing Gear
Purse seinesSurrounding nets with purse lines (purse seines). The gear is locally called “traiña”. The main body-net is composed of a number of long and rectangular sheet nets, horizontally delimited thought all its length by resistant net strips. The net is vertically kept through a lead-line in the ground-rope and a buoyed line in the head-rope. The purse line, locally called “jareta”, closes the seine when the fish school is surrounded, forming a big bag with the catches inside. They used to attract the schools by using powerful lights that increased the fishing efficiency.
Seasonality
From April to November
Trip Duration
1 fishing day
Ports
Barbate (Cádiz, S Iberian Peninsula)
Fishery Indicators
| Type | Measure | Value | Unit | Time period |
|---|
| Nominal Effort | Number of vessels | 19 | vessels | 2007-2009 |
| Participation | Number of fishermen | 300 | persons | 2007-2009 |
| Production | Landing Volume Total | 1265 | tonnes | 2007-2009 |
| Landing Volume E. encrasicolus | 904 | tonnes | 2007-2009 |
| Landing Volume S. pilchardus | 331 | tonnes | 2007-2009 |
Post Harvest
Fish Utilisation
Fresh and salted anchovy for consumption
Markets
Barbate (Cádiz, Spain)
Management
Management unit: No
Jurisdictional framework
Management Body/Authority(ies): Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche Maritime. Département de la Pêche Maritime
Mandate: Monitoring; Management.
Area under national jurisdiction: Morocco
Maritime Area: Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ).
Management Body/Authority(ies): European Union
Mandate: Flag state responsibility for its fishing vessels operating in foreign area under national jurisdiction.
Area under national jurisdiction: Morocco
Maritime Area: Exclusive Economic Zone Areas (EEZ).
Legal definition
Small-scale fishing/north: pelagic species
Management Regime
Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Communities and the Kingdom of Morocco (OJ L 141, 29.5.2006, p. 1–37).
Management measures of the Spanish purse seine fishery are included in the last Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Morocco (2006) into the fishing category “Small-scale fishing/north: pelagic species”.
Management Methods
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT MEASURES with focus on Effort control- Licences system
Related Fisheries - Fishing activity(ies) managed under the same management unit or being ruled by the same fishing agreement
Spain Bottom wet fish trawler black hake fishery - Moroccan Atlantic coast waters, South 29°NMore information on fisheries legislation at: FAOLEX legislative database Status and Trends
The fishery was closed during the period 1999-2006. After the agreement renewal in 2007, it has been appreciated a drop in catches, in comparison to those before 1999. This lower catches are attributed to the geographical limitations of the new fishing agreement.
Source of Information
Binet, D., 1997. Climate and pelagic fisheries in the Canary and Guinea currents 1964–1993: the role of trade winds and the southern oscillation. Ocean. Acta 20, 177–190.
Cury, P. and C. Roy, 1989. Optimal environmental window and pelagic fish recruitment success in upwelling areas. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 46, 670–680.
Demarcq, H. and V. Faure, 2000. Coastal upwelling and associated retention indices derived from satellite SST. Application to Octopus vulgaris recruitment. Ocean. Acta 23, 391–408.
Freudenthal, T, H. Meggers, J. Henderiks, H. Kuhlmann, A. Moreno, G. Wefer, 2002. Upwelling intensity and filament activity off Morocco during the last 250,000 years. Deep Sea Res. (II Top. Stud. Oceanogr.) 49, 17: 3655-3674.
FAO, 2008. Report of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa. Saly, Senegal, 6–15 May 2008. CECAF/ECAF Series. FAO. Roma (in press).
FAO, 2009. Report of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa. Nouakchott, Mauritania, 21-30 April 2009 . CECAF/ECAF Series. FAO. Roma (in press).
García-Isarch, E., M. Millán, F. Ramos, M.T.G. Santamaría and C. Burgos, 2009. Recent past and present of the Spanish fishery of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in Atlantic Moroccan waters. In: Symposium Science and the challenge of managing small pelagic fisheries on shared stocks in Northwest Africa. 11–14 March 2008, Casablanca, Morocco. (Manuscript submitted).
Ramos, F., P. Abaunza, M. Millán, E. García-Isarch y M.T.G. Santamaría, 2008. Investigations on anchovy (Engraulis Encrasicolus Linnaeus, 1758) by the IEO (Instituto Español de Oceanografía) in the Northern and Central Easthern Atlantic. Working Group on Anchovy – Scientific Committee Morocco-EU. Nantes (France), 20-24 October, 2008.
Official Journal of the European Union, 2006. Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Communities and the Kingdom of Morocco. OJ L 141, 29.5.2006, p. 1–37.
Pascual-Alayón, P., M.T.G. Santamaría, A. Sancho, V. Duque, E. Hernández, L. Bravo de Laguna and E. García-Isarch, 2008. Spanish Report on the activity of European pelagic trawlers fishing in Mauritania and landing in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. In: Eighth Meeting of the FAO Working Group on the Assessment of Small Pelagic Fish off Northwest Africa. Saly, Senegal, 6–15 May 2008.
Millán, M., 1992. Descripción de la pesquería de cerco en la región Suratlántica española y Atlántico-Norte marroquí. Informe Técnico del Instituto Español de Oceanografía, 136: 70 pp.
to turn layers on and off 
Engraulis encrasicolus 
Sardina pilchardus 