Morocco’s coastal and artisanal fisheries have delivered a striking split verdict for the first nine months of 2026. Nationally, marketed landings surged. At one northern Mediterranean port, they shrank. The contrast, published in figures from Morocco’s National Fisheries Office (Office national des pêches, ONP), is a textbook lesson in why national averages never tell the whole story of a fishery — and why anyone tracking fish prices, seafood trade or fisheries jobs should always look at the port-level breakdown too.
Across Morocco, marketed landings from coastal and artisanal fisheries reached 965,832 tonnes by the end of September 2026, up 19% on the same period in 2025. Their total value rose 6% to more than MAD 8.68 billion, against roughly MAD 8.20 billion a year earlier. Volumes, in other words, grew much faster than value — a pattern worth noting for traders and processors, because it points to a changing catch mix rather than simply higher prices.
At Al Hoceima, a port on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, the story ran in the opposite direction. Landings from coastal and artisanal fisheries fell 14% year-on-year to 1,655 tonnes through September, and their market value dropped 17% to about MAD 90.64 million, down from more than MAD 109.01 million in January–September 2025. The port’s decline is small in national terms — 1,655 tonnes against a national 965,832 — but it matters locally, and it shows how a single port’s fortunes can diverge sharply from the national trend.
Morocco’s nine-month fisheries scorecard
| Indicator (January–September 2026) | Figure | Change vs same period 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| National marketed coastal & artisanal landings | 965,832 tonnes | +19% |
| National value of those landings | More than MAD 8.68 billion | +6% (from ~MAD 8.20 billion) |
| Al Hoceima landings | 1,655 tonnes | −14% |
| Al Hoceima value | ~MAD 90.64 million | −17% (from >MAD 109.01 million) |
| Mediterranean facade landings | 13,477 tonnes | +7% |
Read the table carefully and one thing stands out: the national growth was not evenly shared. Mediterranean ports as a group grew only 7% in volume — well behind the 19% national rate — which means the Atlantic ports, which handle almost all of Morocco’s coastal and artisanal volume, did most of the heavy lifting. Earlier ONP figures underline the point: through August 2026, Atlantic ports had received 711,056 tonnes, up 6% year-on-year, while Mediterranean ports recorded 12,435 tonnes, up 9% in volume but down 8% in value. Growth in tonnes does not automatically mean growth in earnings.
Inside Al Hoceima: cephalopods down, white fish up
Al Hoceima’s overall decline was driven by its two biggest categories, and the species breakdown explains why the port’s value fell faster (−17%) than its volume (−14%): the highest-value catch shrank the most.
| Al Hoceima category (Jan–Sep 2026) | Volume | Volume change | Value | Value change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish) | 1,066 tonnes | −18% | ~MAD 63.44 million | −22% |
| Pelagic fish | 243 tonnes | −23% | ~MAD 10.16 million | −17% |
| White fish | 266 tonnes | +10% | >MAD 11.20 million | +18% |
| Crustaceans | 80 tonnes | +29% | >MAD 5.83 million | +8% |
Cephalopods alone accounted for roughly two-thirds of Al Hoceima’s landed volume and about 70% of its value — around MAD 63.44 million of the port’s MAD 90.64 million total. When that category falls 18% in volume and 22% in value, no plausible gain elsewhere can compensate. Pelagic landings compounded the damage, falling 23% to 243 tonnes from 315 tonnes a year earlier, with value down 17% from about MAD 12.29 million.
The brighter spots were real but small. White fish landings rose 10% to 266 tonnes, with value up 18% to more than MAD 11.20 million (from about MAD 9.48 million in 2025). Crustaceans grew fastest of all, up 29% to 80 tonnes, with value up 8% to more than MAD 5.83 million. Together, however, white fish and crustaceans added only about 346 tonnes — far short of offsetting the cephalopod and pelagic shortfall. That arithmetic is the whole story of Al Hoceima’s nine months: a port concentrated in one high-value group is exposed when that group falters.
Why this matters beyond Morocco
Morocco is one of the world’s great fishing nations and a dominant supplier of small pelagic fish — above all sardines — to Europe and beyond. Its national numbers therefore ripple into canning, fishmeal and export markets far from its coast. The September 2026 figures sit alongside other strong Moroccan signals this year: sardine landings jumped 66% between January and August 2026 to 394,200 tonnes, according to official figures reported in October, even as canneries reported that a growing share of the catch was too small to can. Volume records and processing headaches can coexist — another reason to read past the headline tonne.
For Indian readers, three lessons travel well. First, a national growth figure can hide local distress: India’s own state and district landings diverge just as sharply, and a scheme or market intervention designed for the average port will miss the struggling one. Second, species mix drives income more than total tonnage — a lesson for fishers choosing what to target and for cooperatives negotiating prices. Third, the ONP’s regular, species-wise port reporting is itself a model: timely, disaggregated, public statistics let traders, researchers and policymakers react within weeks, not years.
How to read ONP figures — and what they do not cover
Two scope notes matter for honest reading. These figures cover marketed products from coastal and artisanal fishing — the fleet that lands at Morocco’s ports and sells through the ONP system. They are not a census of every fish caught in Moroccan waters, and they are not directly comparable with deep-sea or high-seas fleet statistics. Comparisons are year-on-year for the same January–September window, so seasonal effects are already controlled for.
The ONP reports also give no cause for Al Hoceima’s decline in the coverage published so far — no weather, stock or effort explanation is offered in the figures — and this post does not invent one. What the data do establish is the shape of the decline: concentrated in cephalopods and pelagics, partly cushioned by white fish and crustaceans, and running against a strongly positive national trend. The final quarter of 2026 will show whether Al Hoceima’s dip was a bad nine months or the start of a longer slide; the ONP’s next releases are the ones to watch.
What to watch next
- Full-year 2026 ONP figures: will national landings hold the 19% growth rate, and will value growth catch up with volume?
- Al Hoceima’s fourth quarter: cephalopod season timing could still soften — or deepen — the port’s annual result.
- The Mediterranean facade: volume up 7% but, on the August evidence, value under pressure — a margin squeeze worth tracking for small-scale fishers.
- Sardine processing: with landings up 66% but canning supply reportedly down 32%, size composition is now as important as tonnage.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Morocco’s coastal and artisanal landings grow in January–September 2026?
Marketed landings reached 965,832 tonnes, up 19% year-on-year, with value up 6% to more than MAD 8.68 billion, according to ONP figures reported in October 2026.
Why did Al Hoceima fall while Morocco grew?
The published ONP figures do not state a cause. What they show is a species-mix effect: cephalopods, the port’s dominant and highest-value group, fell 18% in volume and 22% in value, while pelagics fell 23%. Gains in white fish (+10%) and crustaceans (+29%) were too small to offset those losses.
Do these figures cover all Moroccan fishing?
No. They cover marketed coastal and artisanal landings handled through the ONP system, not the entire Moroccan fleet. That scope is what makes the port-by-port comparison valid — every port is measured the same way.
Where does Morocco sit in world fisheries?
Globally, fisheries and aquaculture production hit a record 235 million tonnes in 2024, according to FAO’s SOFIA 2026 report, with aquaculture passing 100 million tonnes for the first time. Morocco’s small-pelagic strength makes it a key supplier within that global picture, and its national statistics are among the most closely watched in Africa.
Related Fisheries India statistics stories
- EU Catches Hit New Low: 3.3M Tonnes in 2025 — Eurostat’s October 2026 update, the mirror image of Morocco’s growth story.
- Vietnam’s 7.9M-Tonne Fish Boom Chases $12B Exports — another nine-month scorecard, this time from Asia.
- FAO SOFIA 2026: Global Fisheries Output Hits 235M Tonnes — the global context for every national figure.
- UK’s New Fishing Map Exposes Where £982M Was Caught — how fine-grained mapping changes what statistics can show.
Sources and fact-check note
- Morocco’s National Fisheries Office (ONP) coastal and artisanal fisheries statistics, January–September 2026, as reported by Walaw (18 October 2026), “Al Hoceima Fishing Landings Fall 14% as Revenue Drops to 90.64 Million Dirhams”.
- Corroboration of the same ONP figures (national 965,832 tonnes, +19%; MAD 8.68 billion, +6%; Al Hoceima 1,655 tonnes, −14%) by World Today Journal (18 October 2026) and LeMaroc360 (21 October 2026), including the Mediterranean facade figure of 13,477 tonnes (+7%).
- ONP August 2026 context via Le360 (12 September 2026): national 723,490 tonnes through August (+6%), Atlantic ports 711,056 tonnes, Mediterranean ports 12,435 tonnes.
- Sardine context via Bladi (22 October 2026), citing official figures and the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products.
- All figures verified against today’s date, 30 October 2026. No figure in this post is unsourced, and no cause has been claimed for Al Hoceima’s decline beyond what the ONP figures show. Figures are for marketed coastal and artisanal landings only.
The banner image is an illustration created for this story. All statistics in this post come from the ONP figures cited above.