The meeting organized on 27th august, in Tabarka – that followed the one held in June with the partners of the ENSAMBLE project – saw the participation of the Municipal Administration, the local police force, and some representatives of the tourism, maritime and fisheries sector, as well as, of course, WWF North Africa.
Following the suggestions that emerged during the aforementioned meeting, the Municipality of Tabarka proposed to enrich the non-permanent commission of agriculture and fisheries with a new module, focused on diversification of fishing, to start applying the CLLD method promoted by the project and introduce a local participatory approach.
During the meeting, the group then talked about fishing tourism, a very popular activity on which local fishermen place high expectations, reflecting the importance of revenue diversification for them.
In the absence of a law authorizing this activity, it has been proposed that some fishermen – chosen by the non-permanent commission – may resort to special permits issued by local authorities (fishing district, merchant maritime office). The boats of them must comply with a series of specifications (in consultation with the merchant navy) to ensure safety for passengers.
Finally, an action plan for the diversification of fisheries has been proposed, based on the following points:
• Analyze fishing tourism activity, to present a law proposal that allows it to take place in Tunisia;
• Integrate it with a form of freshwater fishing – to practice in dams of the north-west – and encourage the consumption of freshwater fish;
• Support artisanal fishermen to benefit from the offered training, to improve their services in fishing and fishing-tourism;
• Develop communication materials on ecotourism / fishing tourism circuits, which will be distributed at infopoints, tourist offices and tourist operators;
• Create an ecotourism circuit that combines the agroforestry and marine features of Tabarka and takes into account the cultural, forest and sports circuits already existing in the region;
• Integrate fishing tourism within the programs proposed by travel agencies;
• Organize the sea / fishermen’s festival again;
• Organize specific events for the region (removal of the cork oak, tube manufacturing, coral manufacturing);
• Improve rural housing infrastructure.
The next meeting will aim to appoint the members of the non-permanent commission “fisheries diversification”. The proposed date is 26th September 2019.