A virus previously known mainly in Australia has been detected in dead sardines in South Africa. As the die-offs spread, the episode is attracting attention in Morocco, where sardine stocks are already weakened. No cases have nevertheless been detected there.
With cumulative rainfall 54 % above the average of the past thirty years, Morocco is emerging abruptly from seven years of drought. While dams are filling at an unprecedented rate, the North is suffering from severe flooding requiring army intervention.
Questioned by two deputies from the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) group, Ahmed Bouari, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, explains the "strange" increase in Morocco’s exports of olives and olive oil despite the drop in production.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests states that milk and dairy products marketed in Morocco do not pose any danger to the health of consumers and that bovine tuberculosis is subject to rigorous veterinary monitoring.
Deputy Naima Elfathaoui from the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development party questioned the Minister of Agriculture about the detection of banned pesticides in Moroccan peppers by French authorities.
Morocco monitors by satellite all Moroccan and foreign fishing vessels operating off the Moroccan coast, recently stated Zakia Driouich, Secretary of State to the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, in charge of Maritime Fisheries.
The delay in the completion of the seawater desalination plant in the city of Dakhla, despite royal directives, has provoked the irritation of the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Water and Forests, Ahmed El Bouari.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Ahmed El Bouari, intends to generalize the ban on the slaughter of female sheep in slaughterhouses.
Moroccan companies specialized in the import of cattle have ordered livestock from a French company that has not honored its commitments for months. These companies are asking to enter their funds to import cattle from Latin America.
King Mohammed VI’s call for Moroccans to refrain from celebrating Eid al-Adha this year sounds like bad news for sheep breeders who are asking for financial support, at the risk of ending up in prison.
In order to optimize marketing and ensure better performance, livestock breeders have started the fattening operation of sheep destined for sale on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, after obtaining authorization from the Ministry of Agriculture.
In Morocco, the price of sardine has reached a record high less than a month before Ramadan, reaching 25 or even 30 dirhams per kilogram depending on the markets. An inflation due, according to professionals, to climate change and the decline in production.