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Algeria has officially recovered its share of live bluefin tuna fishing within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This progress allows the country to get closer to the threshold of 5.1% of the global share, thanks to a notable increase of 437 tonnes, bringing the national quota from 2,023 tonnes to 2,460 tonnes for the period 2026–2028.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Yacine Oualid, this decision repairs “an injustice” dating from 2010, when the Algerian share was drastically reduced to 1% during the 17th session of the organization, a meeting which was marked by the absence of the Algerian delegation.
The minister stressed that this result is the culmination of “precise and sustained” negotiations, led by the Algerian representative to ICCAT, with the decisive support of national diplomacy. These efforts also allowed the introduction of a specific point in the conclusions of the meeting, guaranteeing that the Algerian file will continue to be examined during the review planned for 2028, in order to compensate for the damage suffered in the past.
Furthermore, confidence was renewed in the representative of Algeria, Amar Ouchelli, re-elected as head of the fourth ICCAT subcommittee. An election which confirms Algeria’s active role within this international body and underlines the importance of this achievement for strengthening the country’s food security and increasing its income from bluefin tuna exports, according to the minister.
Bluefin tuna constitutes a wealth with strong economic potential, particularly thanks to the processing industry. The Director General of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, Miloud Tria, also called, during an intervention on National Radio, the importance of developing local processing of tuna in order to create more added value, rather than continuing to export it in its raw state.
It should be noted that the European Union remains one of the strongest markets for canned tuna. According to a report from the Infofish platform, the EU imported nearly 285,000 tonnes of processed tuna in 2023. A major opportunity for Algerian investors, who could take advantage of this dynamic market by moving towards the production and export of processed tuna, instead of exporting the live or unprocessed product.
As a reminder, the 2025 bluefin tuna fishing campaign was officially launched at the end of May at the port of Algiers, during which Algeria was allocated a total quota of 2,047 tonnes for the year. Hence the volume recovered reflects the historical share of the country, with a significant increase compared to previous years. The May campaign mobilized 39 national tuna vessels, including two new 42-meter tuna vessels, built locally, in Algeria, thus helping to strengthen the national fleet.