For industries that process and add value to fishery products, the challenge is to move gradually from a logic of volumes to a logic of value. Here are the key points of the analysis FENIP is sharing with its members.
A cross-cutting framework, not just another strategy
SANEB does not replace sectoral strategies. It sets common guidelines, strengthens coordination between sectors and territories, arbitrates conflicts of use and steers investment. Its approach is systemic: the blue economy is seen as a set of interdependent value chains that share infrastructure, territories, resources and skills.
The work is led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, within the Blue Economy Development Programme supported by the World Bank, which benefits from financing of USD 350 million. The Interministerial Commission for Blue Economy Development (CIDEB) defines how these guidelines are integrated into sectoral policies and plans, and ensures their consistency and follow-up.
From volume to value
In the work presented at the Blue Lab, the “fisheries block” brings together fishing, aquaculture, processing and distribution. The proposed paradigm shift is to no longer seek growth mainly through higher volumes harvested: the ambition is to create more value from every tonne of available resource.
This approach relies in particular on:
- sustainable stock management and better allocation of raw material;
- processing and the valorisation of by-products;
- traceability, distribution and the cold chain;
- moving up the value chain, innovation and biotechnology;
- developing domestic and export markets.
For FENIP, this direction is in line with the need to gradually move the sector towards full valorisation, innovation and competitiveness.
Coastal clusters, at the heart of the future architecture
A coastal cluster is a territorial ecosystem that brings together businesses, administrations, local authorities, research institutions and training bodies around the value chains of the blue economy. It aims to identify opportunities, structure joint projects, pool certain infrastructure and services, develop innovation and improve access to financing.
The World Bank programme initially provides for regional coordination mechanisms in Souss-Massa and Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, which form the basis of the future clusters. It also envisages a regional secretariat responsible for coordinating stakeholders, relaying national guidelines and contributing to the programming and financing of projects. In Souss-Massa, a task force, a governance framework and the identification of investment projects are already under way. In the longer term, the ambition is to foster clusters across the Kingdom’s coastal regions.
For FENIP, the processing industry must be fully represented and be able to contribute to identifying needs in raw material, infrastructure, cold storage, energy, water, logistics, innovation, research, skills, financing and market access.
Towards a new financing architecture
The aim is not only to create more subsidies, but to make more projects visible, structured, bankable and financeable. The work distinguishes three groups: structuring infrastructure (ports, water, desalination, energy), established value chains (seafood, processing, logistics) and the emerging blue economy (new aquaculture, algaculture, biotechnology, blue carbon).
The instruments under consideration differ according to the nature and risk of the project: public funding for infrastructure, bank credit for the modernisation of established value chains, venture capital for emerging activities, as well as guarantees, first-loss mechanisms, blended finance and public-private partnerships.
The idea of a project bank is also presented: identifying projects aligned with blue economy priorities upstream, then moving them from the portfolio (where studies and structuring are still needed) towards investment (sufficiently mature to mobilise a suitable instrument). One of the options also includes a Blue Impact Fund, which could support very small, small and medium-sized enterprises, structuring projects and innovation, with a phased roll-out starting from pilot projects.
The blue taxonomy for selecting projects
The mechanism presented provides for project selection based on several filters. The first is a future blue taxonomy, which would determine which activities are compatible with the blue economy, in three categories: green (eligible, meeting the best environmental standards), amber (eligible under conditions, with a defined transition pathway) and red (excluded). An industrial modernisation project could thus be eligible because it improves its environmental performance or its use of resources.
The other selection criteria remain to be officially validated. At this stage, these mechanisms are proposals subject to arbitration as the strategy is finalised.
The seven priorities FENIP wishes to advance
As the next stages unfold, FENIP wishes to defend the following orientations:
- Maximise the value created from fishery resources, by moving from a logic of volume to a logic of value per tonne, processing, innovation, full valorisation and new markets.
- Address the imbalances of the existing system, by analysing mismatches between available resource, catch capacity, processing capacity, industrial location, logistics and outlets.
- Give industry its full place in coastal clusters, by involving it in identifying projects, infrastructure and shared services.
- Build a genuine innovation capacity: applied R&D, biotechnology, marine proteins and ingredients, circular economy, digitalisation and decarbonisation.
- Facilitate access to future blue financing, by supporting members in identifying eligible projects, understanding the taxonomy and structuring bankable projects.
- Call for the creation of a maritime credit facility dedicated to financing the fisheries sector, whose design would also include export financing to help companies access foreign markets.
- Recall the need for public support commensurate with the challenges: the fishing sector has not benefited from subsidies comparable to those received by agriculture. These subsidies remain necessary to stimulate its development and support its transition towards value creation, alongside the financing instruments under consideration.
These priorities come with a capacity-building effort which, for FENIP, must go beyond traditional training: industrial, technological, managerial, commercial, scientific and digital capabilities, R&D, and project structuring and financing.
What this could mean for FENIP members
Over time, implementing the strategy could open new opportunities in the following areas:
- industrial modernisation;
- energy efficiency and decarbonisation;
- circular economy and by-product valorisation;
- innovation, new products and marine biotechnology;
- digitalisation and traceability;
- cold chain and logistics;
- shared infrastructure;
- R&D and partnerships with research centres;
- financing of structuring projects;
- access to new markets.
FENIP will continue to take part in SANEB’s work in order to defend the interests of the processing industries and to help turn this national strategy into concrete opportunities for value creation for its members and for Morocco’s fisheries sector.
Disclaimer
This article is a purely informative summary prepared by FENIP on the basis of ongoing preparatory work (Blue Lab, the Blue Economy Development Programme supported by the World Bank, WestMED work). It is neither an official document of SANEB or of any public authority, nor legal, financial, tax or investment advice, nor a commitment by FENIP.
Several of the elements presented (blue taxonomy, selection criteria, Blue Impact Fund, project bank, clusters) are, at this stage, proposals or options subject to arbitration, which may change as the strategy is finalised.
Despite the care taken in its preparation, errors, omissions or approximations cannot be ruled out. FENIP cannot be held responsible for decisions made on the basis of this information. Readers are invited to consult official sources (Ministry of Economy and Finance, CIDEB, World Bank) and to verify the information before making any decision.