It is in Tan Tan that the Department of Maritime Fisheries has just inaugurated a major infrastructure. A new market is therefore born, ensuring greater quality in the processing of fishery products. This approach comes in support of the strategy in force aimed at overcoming the handicaps to which the sector was subject and also granting more transparency in the management of resources for marketing.

"The construction of this new-generation fish market at the port of Tan Tan is part of the implementation of the performance axis of the Halieutis strategy in this region known for the importance of its seafood landings", indicates the supervisory department on the sidelines of the opening of the market, Monday 16 February in Tan Tan. A ceremony in which Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries, and Azzedine Hallou, the governor of the province, took part.

For an investment of 30 million dirhams, the new market will allow for the organisation of product flows as well as ensuring their quality and improving the working conditions of artisanal fishermen. Indeed, the management of the market will revolve around the use of new technologies. This will be done through an IT system that will allow for real-time monitoring of the sale of products. The market will also rely on the mechanical handling of products and the physical separation of the flows of people and products. On an area of 6,700 square metres, the market will include technical premises, a veterinary laboratory, cold rooms, product identification and shipping units, as well as administrative premises.

In parallel, the Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries proceeded to the distribution of Iceboxes. An action that is part of the programme for equipping artisanal boats in the southern regions with isothermal boxes. Covering an envelope of 40 million dirhams, this programme consists of the distribution of 20,913 boxes and targets 6,971 boats in the southern regions.

The programme, which spans two years, also aims at improving the quality of products and their handling, notably octopus. To date, 10,896 boxes have been distributed to artisanal fishing professionals in the southern regions at the ports of Boujdour, Dakhla, and Laâyoune.