| Abstract | The scientific Institute of Marine Fisheries (ISPM) was created in 1954. Since then it has been in charge of fisheries research. The head quarter is located in Casablanca city, and there is a network of five regional centres and 7 stations in major harbors throughout Morocco. In 1996, the institute became known as the Institut National de Recherche Halieutique (INRH).
Research is based around the following topics:
* Understanding of upwelling systems;
* Identification of main production areas: primary and secondary production;
* Ecological assessment of potential sites for aquacultures;
* Enhancement of aquaculture technologies through the development of engineering, species diversification, nutrition, genetics, pathology etc.;
* Environment - fisheries resources relationship studies;
* Research and study to enhance the understanding of the marine environment and its impact on the marine resources;
* Continuous monitoring of the marine environment with respect to different biological and chemical pollution sources;
* Assessment of the fishery resources, the actual state of fish stocks and their exploitation level, in order to study factors that influence their life cycle and provide data (including biological, technical and economic data) for fishery management purposes. An annual scientific report is published about the state of the marine resources;
* Assessment of the biological and socio-economical impact on fisheries and on the marine environment, taking into account differences in coastal management; |
