Climate Change affects north eastern Moroccan fisherman

Traditional fishing has become today a pressing issue as a sector which, if properly developed, could increase job opportunities and alleviate unemployment, particularly in coastal areas.

Workers in the sector endure vulnerable social and economic conditions owed to loss of income and the dwindling of resources, with the harshness of nature and the impacts of climate changes only exacerbating the situation.

These challenges are faced by many fishing villages on the Moroccan coasts, including the one of Saidia, one of the country’s major summer resorts and a popular destination for tourists located in the North eastern Mediterranean coast of the country. Yet, the local population continues to rely on traditional fishing and local crops. The region of Saidia-Ras El Maa houses 42600 inhabitants of whom 76% live in rural areas while city dwellers do not exceed 24%. The Saidia fishermen use small 5 to 6 meters-long boats and operate along the coast between the estuary of the Moulouya River and the city of Saidia.

The ACCMA project, implemented in the framework of Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA), funded jointly by IDRC (Canada) and DFID (United Kingdom), operates in this region in an attempt to improve the potentialities of adaptation of the traditional fishing activity in coastal zones. The pursuit of such goals has become a must in order to develop the Saidia fishing site and enable fishermen to adapt to climate changes such as temperature rising and extreme weather events. The project also seeks to improve fishermen’s living and working conditions and preserve natural resources and the local marine ecosystem in its general aspect in order to develop the traditional fishing sector, facilitate adaptation and better fishing practices against the undeniable impacts of climate change on the eastern Mediterranean coast.


Climate change affects fishermen activities by limiting fishing days and influencing the quantity and quality of fish harvested. Other factors of impact include the tourism development in the region and which generates solid and liquid waste polluting the coast and the unfair fishing practices of larger ships.

The Mediterranean coast suffers from the rise of temperatures and a stronger recurrence of heat waves which drive fish away from warmer waters and result in turn in an intensification of the fishing activity and an expansion of the fishing perimeter following the change of seasons. These and different other factors have also affected the species of fish caught and their suitability for consumption, influencing catch volumes and the profitability for fishermen. Furthermore, the frequency and severity of increasingly unpredictable storms have seriously reduced the number of fishing days.

Mohammed Tafraouti for Middle East Online.