New areas of cooperation between Russia and Morocco
12 April 2022

New areas of cooperation between Russia and Morocco

On April 8, a meeting of experts from the Atlantic Branch of the VNIRO (AtlantNIRO) and the National Institute of Fisheries Research of Morocco (NIRI) took place in a videoconference format.
 
The Russian and Moroccan delegations outlined an action plan for the implementation of a joint publication project, and also discussed promising areas for further scientific cooperation.
 
By the 30th anniversary of the signing of the first intergovernmental agreement between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Morocco on cooperation in the field of marine fisheries, it is planned to publish a collection that will reflect the results of many years of joint scientific activities of Russia and Morocco. The collection will include articles in the field of oceanological, hydroacoustic, ichthyological, hydrobiological, ichthyoplankton studies.
 
As part of the implementation of cooperation agreements, scientists intend to continue the traditional complex of resource research in the Atlantic waters of North-West Africa. At the same time, the experts of the Research Institute expressed their desire to expand the area of work carried out and add coastal stations near Cape Blanc and in the area north of the port of Dakhla to the grid of oceanological stations, and additional squares in the area of Cape Safi to the scheme of control trawling.
 
Also important was the question concerning the expediency of involving the NIS "Academician Ioffe" of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the implementation of scientific research in the area of Morocco in the autumn season of 2022 in order to more fully cover the studied processes of the formation of high biological productivity of the shelf in the southern part of Morocco.
 
In addition, the participants of the meeting evaluated the results of the accounting survey carried out by the scientific group at the Atlantniro STM in 2021. It was recorded that for the first time since 2009, the European horse mackerel replenishment index exceeded the long-term average. The West African horse mackerel index turned out to be relatively high against the background of dynamics in the last decade. In favor of the conclusion about the appearance of a productive generation of this fish, the materials considered on the structure of commercial catches also testified. In general, the scientists noted an improvement in the statistical indicators of the quality of the indices obtained during the expedition.
 
Press Service VNIRO