14/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – According to Moroccan media sources dated Friday 11 November, Morocco has been put under pressure by the country’s professional associations and has subsequently rejected a request made to it from the EU to reduce its catches of swordfish made along its Mediterranean coast by 25%. This reduction had called for by international NGOs in the sector, such as Oceana. (see EUROPE 11657 & 11652). Morocco believes that it has respected the quota system in its Atlantic waters but refuses to implement this quota on its Mediterranean coast, given the tense context following the brutal death of a trader selling non-quota caught swordfish, in Essaouira. According to the newspaper liberation.ma, “Catches of swordfish in the Mediterranean contribute an average of 4% of weight and 20% of value of all coastal fishing production landed in Moroccan ports in this region”. (FB)