ish stocks and aquaculture represent the great untapped resource in Algeria. With a coastline of 1,200 km and a sea surface of 9.5 million hectares, the republic has an estimated 500,000 tons of fish reserves, including highly valuable migratory fish stocks such as red tuna. However, only 26% of its sea surface is actively fished, while the average Algerian consumes a little more than 4 kg of seafood per year, compared to the world consumption average of 15.7 kg.
Given the resources at hand, and the export potential under the recently signed Association Agreement with the European Union, the government created the Ministry of Fishing Resources in 2000, which is charged with the task of producing a development plan for the sector. Its aims, according to the three-year-old Ministry, are to create an industry that is ecologically sustainable not only for fishing but for aquaculture, to generate approximately 100,000 jobs through assisting small and medium-sized enterprises, and to contribute to non-hydrocarbon exports.
The development plan outlines three areas for growth. The first, the National Plan for the Development of Maritime and Oceanic Fishing, aims to reach a production of 230,000 tons per year and 50,000 all-year jobs. This will require, according to the plan, improving and diversifying the product, reinvestment in manufacturing, processing, and marketing industries, development of deep sea fishing capability, and improving red tuna fishing. The second, the National Plan for Independent (or Artisanal) Fishing, aims to develop traditional and rural fishing communities in conjunction with the Ministry of Employment and National Solidarity. The fishing sector supports over 100,000 coastal families, most of whom are engaged in small, single-boat fishing businesses. The third, the National Plan for Aquaculture, intends to boost production by 30,000 tons a year and generate 70,000 jobs. Presently some 17 million young fish, from imported Hungarian stock, are being cultivated in artificial lakes.
The result of existing efforts, says Dr. Smail Mimoune, the Minister of Fishing Resources, is that Algeria’s national production has already experienced a sharp increase. “Our production has jumped by approximately 44,000 tons, from 89,818 in 1999 to 133,623 tons in 2001. This in turn has elevated the ratio of national food consumption from 3.02 kg per capita per year in 1999 to 4.58 kg per capita per year in 2001, and has also lead to the creation of 8,307 new jobs. Moreover, it is expected that by the end of 2005 that ratio should be able to reach 6.2 kg per capita per year.” Dr. Mimoune also argues that the Ministry’s new framework for fishing development requires increased investment. “We are perfectly aware that the development of the sector relies on quality investments, hence our efforts to encourage and promote investment within the framework of partnership.This strategic sector is economically important inasmuch as it participates fully in the economic growth of the country by way of its contribution to food security, the creation of new jobs, and exporting products other than hydrocarbons.”