La explotación de los recursos pesqueros del Sáhara Occidental por parte del Reino de Marruecos
Authors: Fernández González, Javier
Type: Journal article
Published: 2026-08-01
Keywords: Western Sahara, Morocco, Fisheries Resources, Marine Resources, Natural Resources, Fisheries Law, Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ, Non-Self-Governing Territory, Decolonisation, Occupied Territory, Sahrawi People, Self-Determination, Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources, Natural Resource Governance, Sustainable Fisheries, Fisheries Management, Canary Current, Coastal Upwelling, Dakhla, Villa Cisneros, Oued Ed-Dahab, Río de Oro, Morocco-EU Relations, Fisheries Agreements, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement, Sahara Occidental, Spain, Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, Consent, International Economic Law, Maritime Economy, Blue Economy, Artisanal Fisheries, Marine Policy, Territorial Dispute, Sahrawi Rights, Resource Sovereignty, Fisheries Cooperation, MINURSO, sea fishing, marine resources, common fisheries policy, law of the sea, EU external relations, economic cooperation, coastal region, maritime zone, Fisheries, Seafood, Conservation of Natural Resources, International Cooperation, fishery resource, natural resource exploitation, European Union law, Geopolitics, Resource governance

<h1 class="PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer">LEGAL REVIEW</h1>
<p>Fernández González, Javier. “La explotación de los recursos pesqueros del Sáhara Occidental por parte del Reino de Marruecos.” <em>Boletín CODESEL</em>, vol. 2, no. 10, August 2026, ISSN-e: 3045-7750.</p>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>The exploitation of natural resources in non-self-governing and occupied territories remains one of the most contested questions at the intersection of international law, economic activity and territorial disputes. In this article, Javier Fernández González examines the particular case of fisheries in Western Sahara, focusing on the role of the Kingdom of Morocco and the legal implications arising from the exploitation of one of the most productive marine areas in the eastern Atlantic. The study combines the law of the sea, the legal status of Western Sahara, fisheries economics and international agreements in order to assess the tension between resource development and the rights of the Sahrawi people.</p>
<p>The article begins by establishing the geographic and economic importance of the issue. Morocco possesses extensive coastlines on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, while its occupation and administration of Western Sahara provide access to approximately 1,100 additional kilometres of Atlantic coastline. The significance of these waters is magnified by the Canary Current and its associated upwelling system, which makes the coast of Western Sahara one of the most biologically productive marine areas in the world. This physical geography provides the essential background for understanding why fisheries have acquired such strategic economic and legal importance.</p>
<p>One of the article’s principal strengths lies in the connection it establishes between the exploitation of fisheries and the broader legal framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Fernández González recalls that coastal States exercise sovereign rights over the exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources within their exclusive economic zones. These rights are accompanied by obligations relating to conservation and sustainable exploitation. The legal difficulty in Western Sahara arises precisely because the determination of who may legitimately exercise those rights cannot be separated from the unresolved status of the territory.</p>
<p>The article correctly places this problem within the continuing international status of Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory whose process of decolonisation remains unresolved. From this perspective, Morocco’s exploitation of marine resources cannot be analysed in the same manner as the exploitation of resources unquestionably located within its internationally recognised territory. The legal regime governing natural resources must therefore be considered alongside the principles applicable to occupied or non-self-governing territories and, above all, the rights and interests of the people of Western Sahara.</p>
<p>A particularly valuable part of the study is its examination of the Moroccan fisheries sector itself. Fernández González demonstrates that fisheries are not a peripheral economic activity but a strategic component of Morocco’s economy, accounting for a significant share of GDP and sustaining hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Morocco has developed a substantial fishing fleet and has become one of Africa’s principal exporters of marine products, with sardines and octopus occupying a particularly important position.</p>
<p>The author also situates this growth within Morocco’s broader fisheries policy. The Plan Halieutis, the development of aquaculture through the Agence Nationale pour le Développement de l’Aquaculture and the internationalisation of the sector illustrate a deliberate national strategy aimed at increasing productivity, competitiveness and sustainability. This institutional dimension is important because it demonstrates that the exploitation of fisheries in Western Sahara forms part of a much wider economic and industrial policy rather than consisting merely of local or artisanal activity.</p>
<p>One of the article’s most striking findings concerns the quantitative importance of Western Saharan waters to Morocco’s fisheries production. Drawing upon available data, Fernández González notes that the coastal area of Western Sahara accounted for approximately 73 per cent of Morocco’s annual coastal and artisanal catches in 2020, representing more than 63 per cent of their total national value. These figures demonstrate that Western Sahara is not economically marginal to the Moroccan fisheries industry; on the contrary, its marine resources constitute one of the structural foundations of the sector.</p>
<p>The discussion of aquaculture further strengthens this analysis. The article shows how the exploitation of natural fishing grounds is increasingly complemented by the development of aquaculture facilities, especially around Dakhla and Oued Ed-Dahab. Oyster, mussel, clam and scallop cultivation, together with marine cages for species such as sea bream and sea bass, illustrates the diversification and long-term consolidation of the sector. The concentration of a substantial proportion of Morocco’s aquaculture facilities in Western Sahara adds a further dimension to the legal debate because it involves not only harvesting naturally occurring resources but also creating permanent productive infrastructures linked to the territory.</p>
<p>The analysis of the fisheries agreements between the European Union and Morocco constitutes one of the central legal sections of the article. Fernández González traces the evolution of bilateral arrangements from the 1988 agreement between the European Economic Community and Morocco through later agreements and protocols adopted in 1992, 2006, 2013 and 2019. Particularly important is the fact that earlier agreements avoided explicit reference to Western Sahara while nevertheless permitting European vessels to operate in waters adjacent to the territory.</p>
<p>This ambiguity gradually became legally untenable. The 2019 Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement expressly acknowledged that Western Sahara remained listed by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory while simultaneously extending the geographical scope of fishing activities to waters adjacent to the territory. The resulting contradiction between non-recognition of Moroccan sovereignty and practical inclusion of Western Saharan waters lies at the heart of the legal controversy examined by the author.</p>
<p>Particularly significant is the discussion of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Fernández González highlights the Court’s conclusion that agreements affecting Western Sahara could not lawfully be applied without the consent of the Sahrawi people. The judicial emphasis upon consent and the requirement that exploitation generate tangible and proportionate benefits for the population provides the key legal counterweight to the economic integration of the territory into Moroccan fisheries policy.</p>
<p>The article also broadens the analysis beyond the European Union by examining Morocco’s fisheries cooperation with third States. Agreements with Japan and several West African countries, together with more recent arrangements involving China and Russia, demonstrate the increasingly international character of Morocco’s fisheries policy. Yet the author identifies a recurring difficulty: many of these agreements make no explicit distinction between internationally recognised Moroccan waters and those adjacent to Western Sahara. As a result, activities formally authorised within Moroccan fisheries cooperation may in practice extend into waters whose legal status remains disputed.</p>
<p>The role of multinational companies adds another relevant dimension. The presence of foreign firms in aquaculture, processing and export demonstrates that the legal controversy surrounding Western Sahara’s marine resources extends beyond intergovernmental agreements. Private economic actors may also participate in activities connected with the exploitation and commercialisation of resources originating in the territory, thereby raising broader questions concerning due diligence, corporate responsibility and the identification of the beneficiaries of economic development.</p>
<p>The article’s visual material effectively supports its argument. The photograph of the fish market in Dakhla illustrates the direct relationship between local economic activity and the richness of Western Saharan fishing grounds, while the image of the port of Agadir shows the industrial scale and infrastructure supporting Morocco’s broader fisheries economy. Most valuable, however, is the geopolitical map showing Western Sahara, the deployment of MINURSO and areas associated with resource exploration. It visually connects the fisheries question with the unresolved territorial dispute and demonstrates that natural-resource exploitation cannot be detached from the geopolitical status of the territory.</p>
<p>Methodologically, the study benefits from combining legal analysis with economic and sectoral data. Rather than treating the fisheries dispute solely as a question of territorial sovereignty, Fernández González demonstrates how legal principles operate within a complex system of production, employment, infrastructure, international agreements, private investment and environmental sustainability. This interdisciplinary approach makes the article particularly useful for understanding the practical consequences of the unresolved status of Western Sahara.</p>
<p>From a broader perspective, the article illustrates a fundamental problem in contemporary international law: economic integration can gradually produce material effects that resemble the consolidation of sovereignty even where sovereignty itself remains legally disputed. Ports, aquaculture facilities, industrial processing, foreign investment and international fisheries agreements may deepen the economic incorporation of a territory without resolving its international legal status. The case of Western Sahara therefore highlights the importance of maintaining a clear distinction between effective administration and lawful title.</p>
<p>The environmental dimension should also be emphasised. The exceptional productivity of the Canary Current creates substantial economic opportunities, but the growing scale of industrial fishing and aquaculture simultaneously increases the need for effective conservation and sustainability measures. Fernández González therefore correctly concludes that any lawful system of exploitation must address not only the rights of the Sahrawi people but also the risk of overexploitation of the marine resources upon which the long-term economic value of the territory depends.</p>
<p>Overall, this article constitutes a useful and timely contribution to the study of natural-resource exploitation in Western Sahara. Javier Fernández González successfully demonstrates that the fisheries question lies at the intersection of the law of the sea, decolonisation, territorial status, economic development and international cooperation. The study’s principal value lies in showing the extraordinary economic importance of Western Saharan waters to Morocco while simultaneously underlining that effective exploitation cannot by itself resolve the underlying legal question. The future legitimacy of fisheries activity in the territory ultimately depends upon sustainable management, respect for the legal status of Western Sahara and effective protection of the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people.</p>
<h2>Abstract</h2>
<p>This review examines Javier Fernández González’s analysis of the exploitation of fisheries resources in Western Sahara by the Kingdom of Morocco. The article combines the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the unresolved legal status of Western Sahara, the economic importance of Morocco’s fisheries sector and the evolution of international fisheries agreements. Particular attention is devoted to the exceptional biological productivity of Western Saharan waters, the development of aquaculture around Dakhla, the economic dependence of Morocco’s fisheries industry upon catches originating in the territory and the fisheries agreements concluded between Morocco and the European Union. The study also considers the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the consent of the Sahrawi people and examines Morocco’s fisheries cooperation with third States and international companies. It concludes that the exploitation of Western Sahara’s marine resources must combine sustainable management with effective protection of the rights and interests of the Sahrawi people.</p>