Advancing tuna catch allocation negotiations: an analysis of sovereign rights and fisheries access arrangements

Regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) determine conservation measures for transboundary fsheries resources. They are also a forum for collective action toward the management of marine resources. One of the most complex and controversial aspects of this process is the allocation of catches between RFMO members. There are a variety of processes that can be used for catch allocation. In recent years, there has been a trend in some RFMOs towards establishing a system of criteria or indicators to determine the volume or percentage of catch that should be allocated to each RFMO member. Establishing such a system is challenging and the position of countries negotiating at RFMOs is also shaped by fisheries access arrangements. The debate on allocation has been ongoing at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission for more than a decade, where one key point of disagreement is the treatment of historical catch taken in the waters of a coastal State. On the one hand, coastal states claim that catches historically taken in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) should be attributed to them based on their sovereign rights over living resources. On the other, some fishing countries from outside the region claim catch history based on fishing conducted in the coastal State’s waters pursuant to access agreements. We analysed UNCLOS articles, publicly available fisheries access agreements, and national legislation to unpack the linkage between fisheries access arrangements and catch allocation discussions, and we also explored examples from other regions and RFMOs. We point out that the sovereign rights of coastal states over their EEZ provide a strong basis for allocation negotiations. In the absence of specific agreements to the contrary, any catch history that arises from foreign vessels fishing inside the EEZ should be attributed to the coastal State. We also argue that it is time for members of RFMOs—and especially of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission—to move beyond the historical catch debate. They need to resolve their differences or consider other ways to allocate participatory rights in shared fisheries

Assimilation of Sentinel-2 data into a snowpack model in the High Atlas of Morocco

The snow melt from the High Atlas is a critical water resource in Morocco. In spite of its importance, monitoring the spatio-temporal evolution of key snow cover properties like the snow water equivalent remains challenging due to the lack of in situ measurements at high elevation. Since 2015, the Sentinel-2 mission provides high spatial resolution images with a 5 day revisit time, which offers new opportunities to characterize snow cover distribution in mountain regions. Here we present a new data assimilation scheme to estimate the state of the snowpack without in situ data. The model was forced using MERRA-2 data and a particle filter was developed to dynamically reduce the biases in temperature and precipitation using Sentinel-2 observations of the snow cover area. The assimilation scheme was implemented using SnowModel, a distributed energy-balance snowpack model and tested in a pilot catchment in the High Atlas. The study period covers 2015-2016 snow season which corresponds to the first operational year of Sentinel-2A, therefore the full revisit capacity was not yet achieved. Yet, we show that the data assimilation led to a better agreement with independent observations of the snow height at an automatic weather station and the snow cover extent from MODIS. The performance of the data assimilation scheme should benefit from the continuous improvements of MERRA-2 reanalysis and the full revisit capacity of Sentinel-2

GIS-based environmental database for assessing the mine pollution : a case study of an abandoned mine site in Morocco

Morocco with important mining activities is increasingly concerned about impacts of mining on the environment. In Morocco, there are approximately 200 abandoned mine sites which vary from small scale underground mines to large scale open-pit mines. Some of these mines, with reactive tailings and waste rocks, are problematic. Indeed, Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pollution from abandoned mines is responsible for soil and water contamination, land resources degradation, changes in landscapes, habitat destruction and human health hazards. In the current case study about the abandoned Kettara mine site, the impact of the old mining activity is assessed by the design and elaboration of an environmental database which will be supported by Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. This database includes multidisciplinary data related to geochemistry, hydrochemistry, hydrology, land cover, geology and climates. The current research demonstrated the efficiency of integrating multidisciplinary data and using GIS technologies when assessing the environmental impact of abandoned mines and forecasting how the pollution is occurred. The obtained results show that in addition to the soil, the surface water and groundwater of the Kettara mine are also contaminated by pollutants which were previously released from mine wastes by AMD action. The sulphate content and the Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the surface water and groundwater are high. The average values for surface water are: sulphate approximate to 7920 mg/L and EC approximate to 256851 mu S/cm. However, in groundwater they are: sulphate approximate to 2088 mg/L and EC approximate to 631 mu S/cm. These values exceed the guidelines for drinking water quality prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO) 600 mg/L and 1500 mu S/cm for sulphate and EC respectively. The developed GIS based environmental database will serve as a reference study for other abandoned mine sites. Finally, it will be employed for the establishment of a web-based GIS Decision Support System which will assist decision makers in assessing and monitoring the occurred mine pollution

Hydrological impacts of climate change in Morocco and Tunisia.

Regional climate modelling, heavy precipitation, flash-floods, droughts: Climate change impacts on the MediterraneanInternational audienc

A multicriteria approach for well drilling in productive zones of fissured systems.

International audienc

Assessment of soil contamination around an abandoned mine in a semi-arid environment using geochemistry and geostatistics: Pre-work of geochemical process modeling with numerical models

International audienceOne of the most serious environmental issues related to mining industry in Morocco and elsewhere around the world, is the pollution from abandoned mine sites. Mine wastes cause obvious sources of soil contaminations. Climatic effects such as heavy rainfall engender metal dispersion in semi-arid areas, since soils are typically and scarcely vegetated. In this study, extension and magnitude of soil contaminations with toxic elements from abandoned Kettara mine, in Morocco, are assessed using geochemical analysis and geostatistics for mapping. Soils and mine wastes are sampled and analyzed for 41 chemical elements (Mo, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Ni, Co, Mn, Fe, As, U, Au, Th, Sr, Cd, Sb, Bi, V, Ca, P, La, Cr, Mg, Ba, Ti, Al, Na, K, W, Zr, Ce, Sn, Y, Nb, Ta, Be, Sc, Li, S, Rb and Hf). Based on enrichment factor (EF), only five elements of interest (Cu, Pb, Zn, As, and Fe) were selected in this research. Geochemical background is determined with exploratory data analysis and geochemical maps were elaborated using geostatistics in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment.The obtained results show that Kettara soils are contaminated with metals and metalloid that exceed the established geochemical background values (Cu ≈ 43.8 mg/kg, Pb ≈ 21.8 mg/kg, Zn ≈ 102.6 mg/kg, As ≈ 13.9 mg/kg and Fe ≈ 56,978 mg/kg). Geochemical maps show that the deposited mine wastes are responsible for soil contaminations with released metals and metalloid that have been dispersed downstream from the mine waste mainly, through water after rainfall. For sustainable development and environmental planning, the current study is expected to serve as a reference for politicians, managers, and decision makers to assess soil contaminations in abandoned mine sites in Morocco

Linkages between snow cover, temperature and rainfall and the North Atlantic Oscillation over Morocco

Snowpack significantly contributes to water resources in North Africa. The objective of this work was to analyze the impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on rainfall and temperature in Morocco at a sub-seasonal scale and to evaluate, for the first time, linkages between the NAO and snow cover area (SCA) derived from remote sensing observations. For this purpose, we analyzed daily SCA products (2000-2013) from the MODIS sensor, meteorological data from 37 stations (1993-2011), NCEP re-analysis of surface air temperature and rainfall rate, and a monthly NAO index. The linear linkages sought using simple correlation analysis demonstrated that negative (positive) NAO (1) is associated with enhanced (reduced) rainfall in December and February for the northern part of the country; (2) occurs with above-normal (below-normal) temperature and, in contrast with rainfall, the correlation persists far inland and late in the season. These results highlight a possible competing influence of NAO on the snowpack dynamic through rainfall and temperature. Indeed, negative (positive) NAO tends to favor earlier (later) melting and lesser (greater) SCA in spring (April-May) through milder temperatures. Results have direct implications for seasonal forecast of SCA in Morocco

Spatial distribution of the air temperature in mountainous areas using satellite thermal infra-red data

Understanding the spatial distribution of air temperature in mountainous areas is essential in hydrological modelling. In the Moroccan High-Atlas range, the meteorological stations network is sparse. In order to get additional information, we investigated the thermal infrared data supplied by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM +) sensor onboard the Landsat 7 satellite. The brightness temperature derived from ETM+ images is used as a proxy for air temperature to set up a model that describes its spatial distribution. This model accounts for sun location and topographic characteristics derived from the SRTM digital elevation model. It was evaluated on the Rheraya watershed, a 225-km(2) region located within the semi-arid High-Atlas mountain range, using two different sources of data. The first data set consists in in-situ air temperature collected by meteorological stations installed during the experiment at various altitudes from 1400 to 3200 m. The second data set is satellite estimates of snow-covered areas (SCA) derived from MODIS images over the whole catchment at 500 m spatial resolution

Projected changes on the surface water resources of the Rherhaya basin (High Atlas, Morocco) by a set of Med-CORDEX models.

International audienceTo anticipate the potential changes in water quantity available within the Rherhaya mountainous watershed (near to Marrakech), it’s important to know the evolution of this resource in relation with climate changes. In this study we use the GR4J model with a snow module with time series of precipitations and discharge (1989 - 2009). The model was calibrated and validated successfully over various periods. Then we used an ensemble of 5 regional climate models (RCM) provided by the Med-CORDEX program with a method of perturbation by quantiles to simulate future scenarios of flow predictions.The evaluation of the precipitations simulated by the RCMs models (RCM) shows a strong underestimation of ~50% but a good reproduction of the cycle for the temperatures. The future changes according to two scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 show a rise of the temperatures (+1.4°, +2.6° respectively) in conjunction with a decrease in total precipitation (-19%,- 31%). Concerning the hydrological modeling with GR4J, stable results are obtained for calibration and validation whatever the chosen period, with maximum bias of 15% in validation on the monthly flows. Flow forecasts (2049-2065) present a strong projected decrease in surface runoff (-30%, -60%) and significant drops of the snow-covered reservoir levels, related to the precipitation decrease and the temperature increase