The Competition Council launched Thursday a formal investigation into possible anticompetitive practices in the industrial sardine supply market, introducing a major regulatory push in a sector long left largely unchecked.
A probe uncovered what the council calls “sufficiently compelling evidence” of coordinated market manipulation spanning two decades by 15 professional organizations, representing fishing vessel owners, industrial processing units, and fish wholesalers, who may have been involved in fixing first-sale sardine prices and deliberately limiting production.
These practices, the council said, distorted market prices, restricted competition, and blocked the entry of new players, ultimately harming both consumers and the broader fishing industry.
The Moroccan sardine sector, a pillar of the national fishing industry, has long faced pressure from climate change, overfishing, and rising consumer demand.
At the heart of the case is the allegation that the implicated players undermined free market dynamics, with price-fixing deals that artificially drove sardine prices up or down and production quotas that stifled competition. If confirmed, these practices would represent a serious breach of Morocco’s competition laws.
This probe could prove a turning point for Morocco’s fisheries sector, laying the groundwork for greater transparency and more competitive market dynamics in one of the country’s most strategic industries.
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