The Minister of Fisheries and Fishery resources, Mr. Sid Ahmed Ferroukhi, said, on March 11th, in Algiers that a protocol of agreement relating to the operation of fishing licenses granted by the Mauritanian government to Algerian operators is being finalized.

"Algeria is still interested in the exploitation of these licenses. We are finalizing the Memorandum of Understanding related to this issue," the minister said during the Forum of the Algerian daily “Liberté”. According to Mr Ferroukhi, this relates to defining the operating conditions of these licenses and facilitating procedures to Algerian operators wishing to exploit them under Mauritanian law. This operation should be a new source of production which "will consolidate and supply the domestic market," he added.

The Mauritanian government has granted five fishing licenses to private operators in Algeria, concerning pelagic fish (blue fish) as sardines. Addressing the strategy ofthe fisheries sector that aims to establish a new model of growth through integrated and sustainable development of the fishing economy, the Minister highlightedthat the expected objectives are sustainable supply of the market, preservation of jobs, improvement of product quality, responsible management of resources and participatory regulation of the fishing effort.