4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE COMPILATION PROCESS

Figure 3 below gives an outline of the main information sources used to obtain the economic indicators for each country. Two different kinds of data may be distinguished - namely, background data regarding the economy of the country concerned (cf. Breuil, 1997), and data regarding the LOUs.

Since the coastlines of Spain and Morocco exceed the study area, national information is accompanied whenever possible with specific information on the provinces or regions in which Alboran Sea ports are located. Region-specific statistical information is lacking in the case of imports, exports, and interest rates. The base year for data collected for the pilot study was 1998, though in some instances data from 1997 or 1999 had to be used. Table 6 provides a summary of all available information by country and region for the study area.

Figure 3. Data sources by country

Table 6. Background data by country in pilot study area

With such data deficiencies it is not possible to make much progress in the elaboration of regional indicators. For the moment, it is only possible to construct the national indicators, as shown in Table 7.

Table 7. National and regional indicators

The Apparent Consumption (WAC) in Spain is 48.9 kilos of fish per person, while in Morocco it is less than half of this (23.9 kg). Differences are even greater in terms of the Value of Apparent Consumption (VAC), which is 11 times higher in Spain than in Morocco. This is due, amongst other reasons, to the difference in rent per capita between the countries.

Another important difference appears in terms of the Commercial Balance of Fish Products (CB). In Morocco it appears to be positive (i.e. $239,731), whereas in Spain it is negative (i.e. -$1,828,882), owing to the large amounts of fish that Spain imports. This indicator is related in part to the Fish Coverage Rate (CR), which shows to what degree a country depends on its own captures. A value close to 100 shows that the country consumes the same amount of fish that it captures. A figure of 194.3% for Morocco shows that exports a large portion of what it captures. Spain, with a Fish Coverage Rate of 55.2%, is obviously importing great amounts of fish to supplement its captures.

The Extraversion Rate (DR) shows the degree of openness of an economy from the point of view of the imports and exports of fishing products in comparison with the total of its captures. Spain scores quite high (206.3%) on this measure, while Morocco has a relatively lower degree of extraversion, with about half of production and the consumption related to the exterior.

Fish Contribution to GNP (FCG) in both countries is very low (1.4% Spain and a 0.4% in Morocco).

Furthermore, in Spain, the Ratio Fish Employment (RFE) is very low, at 0.5% the total active population (no data available for Morocco).

The Ratio Harvesting Value (RHV) shows the greater importance of fishing as compared to aquaculture in terms of income. In Morocco it is 58.8 times higher, and in Spain 7.9 times higher. The Ratio Harvesting Weight (RHW) shows again shows how the importance of fishing is far more dominant over aquaculture in Morocco than in Spain.. Both indicators point to the potential for aquaculture in Morocco.

Taking the national indicators altogether, it is apparent that the two countries have quite different fishing industry features, even though they are based on a similar resource.

The second group of indicators synthesizes specific information for each LOU within each country. The only way to compile the data necessary for estimating these indicators was through sampling of the Alboran Sea fleet through the use of a survey questionnaire (Annex 3) prepared in co-operation with fisheries experts from both countries. The survey were carried out between November 1999 and February 2000, and aimed at being as representative as possible of the whole of Alboran fleet. As is normally the case, sample size was restricted by budget and time constraints. In total, 187 survey questionnaires were administered, 65 in Morocco and 122 in Spain. Sample distribution by LOU type and port is shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Number of samples by segment and port/area

In all cases, the information obtained through the survey was compared with information from various other sources in order to gauge the reliability of results. Thus, in Spain, fleet census data provided by MAPA were compared with the results of samplings performed by the IEO. The economic results were compared with Annual Economic Report estimations for 1998 and employment data offered by the Instituto Social de la Marina and by the Encuesta de Población Activa (Working Population Survey). In the case of Morocco, the ministerial fleet census was compared with the database developed within the framework of COPEMED. Sales and catch data were compared with data of the Ministry for Fisheries, and import/export data and estimations of the INRH.

Survey results were compiled in a database, which made it possible to apply certain filters depending on the fleet segment, operational unit or even specific features of the vessels included in the survey. This database has a time component equal to one, due to the fact that all data relate to a single year (1999). However, it is designed to accommodate subsequent years.

⁸ PTW, PTV IMW, IMV, EXW, EXV from Eurostat, Yearbook 2000; AQW, AQV from FAO-Fishstat+ for 1997; P, AP, UR from Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid (http://www.ine.es); GNP from, World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org); R from Public Debt in 10 years, Banco de España (http://www.bde.es).

⁹ This covers part of the Andalucia region, including the provinces of: Málaga, Granada and Almeria. PTW, PTV, AP, UR, GNP derive from the Instituto de Estadística de Andalucia, (www.iea.junta-andalucia.es); P from Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid (http://www.ine.es). Aquaculture production from this zone is of relatively low importance as only 5 of the 123 Andalucian aquaculture sites are in the Mediterranean. Estimated aquaculture production is lower than 3000 tonnes, amounting to about US$ 350 000 $ per year.

¹⁰ PTW, PTV, P (1999), AP (1999), UR (1999) from Direction de la Statistique Maroc (http://www.statistic.gov.ma); IMW, IMV, EXW, EXV, AQW, AQV from FAO (Fishstat+ for 1997); GNP from World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org).

¹¹ Administrative provinces of Morocco Kingdom: Tanger, Tetuan, Chefchaouen, Al-hoceima, Nador, Berkane. PTW, P (1999), AP (1999), UR (1999) from Direction de la Statistique Maroc (http://statistic.gov.ma).

¹² The only two indicators that could be derived for the regional level in the respective countries show similarly low contributions of fisheries to GNP, being 0.3% for Andalusia in Spain and 0.02% for Rif in Morocco.

¹³ In spite of it, the study does not excessively diverge from the sampling methods usually applied to obtain the indicators. Thus, for instance, the study by J. Boncoeur & B. Le Gallic (1998) carries out 160 samples to study a fleet of 1,700 vessels that are divided into 11 segments and 30 areas.

¹⁴ Annual Economic Report, 1998. Concerted action FAIR PL97-3541 of European Commission.