• Morocco produced 3,644 tons of farmed fish in 2024, far below its 300,000-ton potential.
• A World Bank report cites red tape, lack of infrastructure, and financing gaps as barriers.
• Aquaculture is seen as key to easing pressure on fisheries and creating thousands of jobs.

In Morocco, as in most coastal African countries, fishing remains the main source of seafood. Aquaculture, viewed as a sustainable alternative, still struggles to take hold despite institutions set up to guide its development.

Aquaculture in Morocco is still largely underused to meet the country’s demand for fish and seafood. Official data show that aquaculture production reached 3,644 tons in 2024.

While this represents a nearly tenfold increase since 2013, when production was under 500 tons, the growth is still modest compared with the sector’s estimated potential of 300,000 tons per year.

Evolution of aquaculture production since 2013

This contrast comes even though the industry operates within a structured institutional and regulatory framework designed to ensure its sustainability and growth. Since its creation in 2011, the National Agency for the Development of Aquaculture (ANDA) has worked alongside the Directorate of Maritime Fisheries (DPM), the National Institute for Fisheries Research (INRH), the National Office for Food Safety (ONSSA), and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to organize and oversee the aquaculture sector.

These institutions are responsible respectively for planning and promoting aquaculture, regulating and governing the industry, conducting scientific research, ensuring food safety, and monitoring financial flows in the sector.

Structural challenges

In a report published in September 2025, the World Bank highlighted several factors that explain Morocco’s limited progress in aquaculture. The report, titled “Harnessing Morocco’s Coastal Wealth: A Strategic Review of Marine Aquaculture for Job Creation and Sustainable Growth,” points to administrative bottlenecks and poor institutional coordination.

It cites difficulties in securing land for marine aquaculture as a major hurdle. The report noted that investors face lengthy and complex authorization procedures due to overlapping institutional mandates and the absence of a centralized approval system. Marine spatial planning and zoning remain fragmented, creating conflicts between aquaculture, fisheries, tourism, and conservation efforts.

This complexity in administrative procedures discourages private investment, limiting financing and slowing the sector’s momentum. The World Bank also noted that aquaculture development is constrained by insufficient infrastructure, financing gaps, and weak environmental risk management. There is a particular need for more landing sites, hatcheries, fish feed plants, cold logistics chains, and processing facilities to boost production.

World Bank reform priorities

To speed up the development of marine aquaculture, the World Bank recommends strengthening governance through a simplified regulatory framework, digitalized authorization procedures, and stronger regional institutional capacities. Better planning and sector management, the report says, would make it easier for private investors to participate.

The bank also calls for the creation of innovative financial and insurance services, such as a dedicated aquaculture investment fund, as well as the use of market-based tools (carbon credits, nitrogen credits, blue bonds, blue finance) to foster a more attractive environment for private capital.

Another key recommendation is investment in local production of high-quality aquaculture feed, as feed can account for up to 80% of farming costs.

According to the institution, producing hundreds of thousands of tons of fish protein will require a significant increase in aquaculture feed output and an update of feed regulations to allow a wider range of protein sources to reduce costs. Currently, aquaculture feed rules are not clear enough on the inclusion of other proven sustainable protein sources, such as processed animal proteins and insect meal (like black soldier fly meal).

The World Bank also encourages stronger public-private partnerships and reduced reliance on government subsidies, to enable the industry to grow and contribute to food security.

A lever for fisheries sustainability and job creation

Unlocking Morocco’s aquaculture potential is mainly about easing pressure on fisheries, which face challenges such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and overfishing that threaten marine resources.

In June, the National Union of Canned Fish Industries (UNICOP) warned of declining fish stocks, particularly sardines, which make up 85% of Morocco’s small pelagics. Citing data from the National Fisheries Office (ONP), the group reported a 46% drop in sardine landings in just two years, from 965,000 tons in 2022 to 525,000 tons in 2024. Key reasons included juvenile catches, weak enforcement against illegal fishing, and poorly adapted biological rest periods.

The need to boost aquaculture production is even more pressing as domestic seafood consumption rises, driven by population growth and greater awareness of seafood’s health benefits.

The World Bank estimates Morocco’s seafood market will reach $1.07 billion in 2025, with annual growth of 6.3% expected through 2030. Without aquaculture growth, fishing, which already supplies about 99% of local fish, will face even more pressure.

Aquaculture is also a strong driver of job creation. Official figures show the sector already counts over 300 projects with a combined production capacity of 200,000 tons, including 183 operational farms run by 11 private investors. These farms aim to produce over 70,000 tons annually and are expected to create nearly 5,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs.