Agadir Haliopole Cluster (AHP) is launching a survey to measure the impact of the sanitary and economic crisis of Covid-19 on the fishing sector and the seafood processing industry of Souss-Massa region.

In the continuity of its action in favour of its members and the professionals of sea fishing who are particularly impacted by this sanitary crisis linked to Covid-19, Agadir Haliopole Cluster has just launched a survey to evaluate with a hindsight of more than two months the impact of this crisis on the fishing companies and the processing industry of sea fishing products at the level of Souss-Massa region.

A questionnaire in this sense has been developed by the AHP, will allow to measure the level of activity of the companies during the crisis, the impact on their orders, their human resources, their financial situation...

The aim of this action is twofold: to strengthen its plan to challenge national and local public decision-makers (the State and its local representatives, public bodies, etc.) and to help its members very concretely to face the economic consequences of this crisis by offering them, firstly, support measures complementary to those put in place by the government. These measures will be broken down into actions, such as training courses, thematic workshops, studies on various subjects such as coaching in management and crisis management, the development of e-commerce, the digitalization of companies' internal services, and the creation of consortia or EIGs, etc.
Secondly, a plan to revive fishing and seafood processing activities, which will include, among other things, a strategy to develop seafood exports in order to preserve existing achievements and conquer new markets. According to Mrs. Touria Benrabah, director of the cluster, "this strategy will focus on market diversification, the establishment in the heart of consumption centers, Moroccan distribution and marketing platforms. It will also include the promotion of innovative products, the improvement of productivity and competitiveness of companies and will help to develop a new vision of governance that will integrate the new challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and will contribute to the promotion of the concept of sustainability at all levels of the production and marketing chain".

As a reminder, thanks to its 180 km Atlantic coast and the great biodiversity of the maritime area, the Souss-Massa region is the 1st place for the landing of seafood products in value and the 3rd place in volume. The sector employs 170 000 direct and 490 000 indirect jobs, i.e. more than 3 million people living from this activity.