On June 17, 2021 and under the chairmanship of Ms. Zakia Driouich, General Secretary of the Department of Marine Fisheries, the National Aquaculture Development Agency (ANDA) held its 17th Board of Directors session via videoconference.
The 17th session’s work focused on an evaluation of the ANDA’s accomplishments in the year 2020.The directors have therefore become aware of the progress of the main achievements, which illustrate the Agency’s action at the coastal regions of the Kingdom and show the new dynamic that is emerging around this new sector of activity in areas with proven aquaculture potential. As a result, the ANDA supported the installation of 89 approved aquaculture projects between 2020 and 2021, including 85 projects in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region. Together, these projects will result in the creation of about 1,300 direct jobs at a cost of around 896 million dhs. These new investments will help diversify the seafood supply by providing an additional volume of more than 72 thousand tons in the long run. The Agency has implemented a financial and technical support program for the implementation of aquaculture projects for the benefit of artisan fishermen’s cooperatives and young entrepreneurs in accordance with its program and based on the desire to make aquaculture an inclusive and integrated activity in the economic fabric of maritime regions with aquaculture potential. For example, the Agency and its partners are supporting 114 projects that have received financial support from the Department of Marine Fisheries in the amount of 129 million dirhams for the acquisition of equipment and the establishment of aquaculture farms of this type.
Supporting this momentum and taking advantage of the proven potential of national coasts for the development of new aquaculture projects, the ANDA issued a Call for Expression of Interest on March 3, 2021, in five regions of the Kingdom, offering 300 plots at sea with a total area of around 6,000 ha. The new aquaculture projects selected through this process will add to the portfolio of aquaculture projects and enhance the aquaculture sector’s ranking in the national economy. At this meeting, the Governing Council was also notified that the ANDA has initiated a second MAI on May 17, 2021, to develop a marine fish hatchery on the North Atlantic Coast as part of a public-private collaboration. This project, which will be funded with 20 million dirhams, will help to control the upstream value chain and diversify the sources of fry supply for national fish farms.
