SUSTAINABLE MARINE AQUACULTURE IN MOROCCO: SITING · VMP–Veterinary Medicinal Product . ... their management capacities by implementing science-based strategies to monitor and control

SUSTAINABLE MARINE AQUACULTURE IN MOROCCO: SITING GUIDELINES, MONITORING STANDARDS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL MODELS FOR COASTAL FINFISH AQUACULTURE ____________________________________________________________________ Najat El Moutchou, Ph.D. JHT inc. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516 National Aquaculture Development Agency Annakhil Avenue, Hay Ryad, Rabat, Morocco. Lisa C. Wickliffe, Ph.D. CSS, Inc. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516 Barry J. King, P.E. CSS, Inc. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516 Jennica L. Hawkins, M.S. CSS, Inc. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516 Trevor Carpenter, Ph.D. Scottish Association for Marine Science Scottish Marine Institute Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK James A. Morris, Jr., Ph.D. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516

Citation for this Report Najat El Moutchou, Lisa Wickliffe, Barry King, Jennica Hawkins, Trevor Carpenter, and James A. Morris, Jr. 2019. Sustainable marine aquaculture in Morocco: siting guidelines, monitoring standards, and environmental models for coastal finfish aquaculture. 154 pp. ACRONYMS ADCP – Acoustic Doppler Current Profile AIS – Automated Identification System ANDA – National Aquaculture Development Agency ANP – National Ports Agency AZE – Allowable Zone of Effects BGC – Bio-Geo-Chemical BOD – Biological Oxygen Demand DEM – Digital Elevation Model DE – Department of Environment DFO – Fisheries and Oceans Canada DMF – Department of Maritime Fisheries DO – Dissolved Oxygen DPDPM – Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics DPM – Department of Marine Fisheries EEZ – Exclusive Economic Zone EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency EQO – Environmental Quality Objective EQS – Environmental Quality Standard EU – European Union FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization FTA – Free Trade Agreement GDP – Gross Domestic Product GEF – Global Environment Facility GESAMP – Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection GFCM – General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean GIS – Geographic Information System GIS-MCE – GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluations GNOME – General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment HAB – Harmful Algal Bloom HCP – High Commission for Planning ICZM – Integrated Coastal Zone Management IDW – Inverse Distance Weighted IFREMER – French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea INRH National Institute of Fisheries Research ITI – Infaunal Trophic Index

JACUMAR – Junta Nacional Asesora de Cultivos Marinos LOI – Loss On Ignition MPDES – Maine Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit MRL – Maximum Residual Levels MSP – Marine Spatial Planning NCCOS – National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science NM – Nautical MILE NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOS National Ocean Service NPDES National Pollution Discharge Elimination System NTU – Nephelometric Turbidity Unit ONSSA – National Office of Sanitary Safety of Food Products PAM – Mediterranean Action Plan PAR – Partnership action research PRA – Participatory rural appraisal QA/QC – Quality assurance/quality control ROMS – Regional Ocean Modeling System RRA – Rapid Rural Appraisal SAMS – Scottish Association for Marine Science SEPA – Scottish Environment Protection Agency SFR – Specific Feed Rate SST – Sea Surface Temperature TIN – Triangulated Irregular Network TN – Total Nitrogen TOC – Total Organic Carbon TP – Total Phosphorus TSM – Total Suspended Matter TSS – Total Suspended Solids USDA – United States Department of Agriculture UTM – Universal Transverse Mercator VMP – Veterinary Medicinal Product

FOREWORD

The global need for sustainable aquaculture development is being addressed through significant investment in research aimed at improving aquaculture technologies and understanding the interactions between aquaculture and the environment. Innovation within the industry aims to ensure sustainability by balancing production efficiency with environmental stewardship, which is enforced through regulatory requirements. Governments have made decisive efforts to increase their management capacities by implementing science-based strategies to monitor and control aquaculture’s effects on the environment.

Fifty years ago, aquaculture began in Morocco but never took hold in a significant way. Morocco is a major player in global capture fisheries, but the contribution of marine aquaculture to Morocco’s fish supply is very low. Marine finfish farming started in the middle of the 1980s on the Mediterranean coast, rearing European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) in floating cages located in the Lagoon of Nador. In 1998, the first offshore farm was created off the Mediterranean coast. Morocco’s 2009 Halieutis Strategy calls for a range of activities to support fisheries and maritime industries, including aquaculture development, a priority area, to promote food security, employment, and exports. To achieve these objectives, in 2011 Morocco created the National Aquaculture Development Agency (ANDA) within the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Fisheries.

Today, aquaculture is an emerging industry with tremendous potential due to the large and expanding market for seafood nationally and in Europe. There is tremendous potential for Morocco to create jobs through aquaculture development. Specific objectives for aquaculture are ambitious and call for increasing overall production. The potential benefits of offshore aquaculture in the long term may prove to be larger and more profound than merely providing additional production to meet future needs for seafood.

The growth of a strong marine aquaculture industry in Morocco is expected in the near future given the national strategy, available suitable marine space, investor interests, and proximity to high demand seafood markets. However, the expansion of the aquaculture industry could generate environmental, social, and economic challenges if these issues are not adequately addressed before the industry expands. Investment in environmental research and technological innovation is needed to reach the global and the national ambition for sustainably produced aquaculture products. Planning aquaculture based on best management practices reduces relative risks to the environment and allows coastal managers to work toward development of resilient aquaculture in the near future.

The United States is at the forefront of an engineering and technology revolution for aquaculture and many related technologies. Scientists, engineers, and researchers have developed reliable cage systems, remote feeders, monitoring systems, and production techniques for a variety of species. At a signing ceremony for the United States-Morocco Plan of Action in 2010, both governments recognized the importance of protecting the environment while promoting sustainable development. As the United States expands trade and investment ties under free trade agreements (FTA), it also seeks to protect the environment and promote sustainable development and management of natural resources through implementation of parallel environmental cooperation mechanisms.

Under this FTA, one of the specified requests is to provide support for Morocco’s goal of fostering green economic growth in marine aquaculture. To achieve this, an aquaculture alliance was created between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Morocco’s Department of Marine Fisheries (DPM), and National Aquaculture Development Agency (ANDA) with support from the U.S. Department of State to develop comprehensive guidelines for a sustainable marine aquaculture industry in the Moroccan coastal zones. This alliance complements the vision of the Government of Morocco for rapid and sustainable growth, improved governance, food security, and improvement of social conditions.

This scientific guidance is intended to assist the government agencies, coastal managers, industry, and scientists to make appropriate management decisions for the current industry as well as future development. These guidelines provide practical advice for siting, modeling, and environmental monitoring for marine finfish aquaculture.

Accomplishing the goals set forth in this guidance will encourage investment in the Moroccan green economy, promising international competitiveness and completion of the national strategy and challenging the aquaculture industry toward sustainability (Figure 1). This guidance is written in a dynamic and adaptable way, so that continuous advances in knowledge can be incorporated into the protocols presented here in order to promote an increasingly sustainable aquaculture.

The guidelines are organized into four main chapters. The first chapter includes the regulatory and institutional context of aquaculture in Morocco and a review of potential impacts associated with aquaculture development. Chapter 2 provides siting principles and considerations as well as a case study for siting fish farms in the Souss-Massa region. Chapter 3 contains a brief background on aquaculture modeling approaches and documents the initial application of a depositional model in the Moroccan Atlantic coast. Chapter 4 presents general frameworks and detailed protocols to create an environmental monitoring program for marine finfish aquaculture.

This document has been developed through an integrated working group and is part of the Coastal Aquaculture Siting and Sustainability program within NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS), located at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and led by Dr. Najat El Moutchou as part of her post-doctoral study. Modeling work was completed in collaboration with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

Figure 1. Anticipated project impacts. Planning aquaculture within an ecosystem approach, modeling, and monitoring environmental impacts, builds regulatory and investor confidence and ensures environmental sustainability.

• Estimate carrying capacity • Conduct Environmental Impact

Assessment • Conduct economic analyses • Depositional model prediction • EQS & indicators

• Conduct baseline assessment • Establish reference sites • EQS & indicators • Spatial & temporal sampling

plan • Model validation • Sustainable management

1) Establish Allocated Zone for Aquaculture (AZA)

2) Define parcels within AZAs for shellfish, finfish, and algae aquaculture

1) Establish Allowable Zone of Effects (AZE)

Monitoring

1) Economic growth 2) Environmental sustainability

Time

• Establish regulatory framework • Identify ecologically important

areas • Consider biophysical, chemical,

operational, and social

Ecos

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Modeling

Planning & Siting