Morocco has started supplying reinforced purse-seine nets to Mediterranean sardine vessels, two years after a 90 million dirham program was launched to limit losses caused by the black dolphin, a protected dolphin blamed for damaging fishing gear in northern ports, maritime specialist platform Al Bahr reported.
The first batch of nets arrived from Indonesia on May 5 and is due to be sewn in Kenitra according to the technical specifications of selected vessels.
The rollout follows a partnership agreement signed on May 14, 2024, between the Fisheries Department, the Interior Ministry, the Economy and Finance Ministry, the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, the National Fisheries Research Institute and the National Fisheries Office. The program was designed to help vessels active on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, excluding Tangier, acquire nets more resistant to attacks by the grand dolphin, or Tursiops truncatus.
The black dolphin is the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), a large, intelligent marine mammal found in the Mediterranean. In northern Morocco, these dolphins have learned to feed on sardines trapped in fishing nets, often tearing the nets while taking the fish.
Because the bottlenose dolphin is a protected species, authorities cannot target the animals directly and instead focus on measures such as stronger nets to reduce the damage.
The problem affects sardine purse-seine boats operating from ports including M’diq, Jebha, Al Hoceima, Nador, Cap de l’Eau and Cala Iris. Fishermen say dolphins attack once sardines have been encircled, tearing nets, reducing catches and forcing operators to spend on repeated repairs.
A 2024 study of the Al Hoceima fishing grounds found that dolphin interactions left between 28 and 230 holes in a net per incident, with repairs estimated at about $180 per mending event.
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