By Pedro Canales
The waters known as the “Canary-Saharan fishing bank,” along with the adjacent areas to the north up to the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar; and to the south towards Mauritania and Senegal, all located in Morocco’s Exclusive Economic Zone, are one of the strategic targets of the Russian fishing fleet and its oceanographic survey ships. They have historically been targets for Spain and later for the European Union. Today, they are a target for Russia, which has navigated them in the past, though to a lesser extent.
What is Moscow seeking in these seas? Fishing and mineral resources, including polymetallic nodules and rare earth deposits.
The Spanish online newspaper Vox Populi reports that “Russia aims to launch at least 50 new fishing vessels by 2030 in an attempt to regain the fishing influence it had during the Soviet era, when it even had a joint fishing venture with Spain, Sovhispan, with an exploitation area in the Canary-Saharan fishing bank.”
To achieve this, Russia currently relies on the entity managing these waters, the Kingdom of Morocco, as a partner and interlocutor. This operation in preparation benefits Rabat in three ways: 1) it will receive dividends from the Russian entry into the area, 2) it will allow Morocco to carry out its own fishing plans and resource extraction from the depths using maps developed by Moscow, and 3) it will persuade the Russian partner to support Morocco’s proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty at the UN Security Council.
Regarding strictly fishing matters, starting this month and until 2026, Russian researchers from the State Scientific Center will study banks of new highly valuable species such as Atlantic cod, pollock, and haddock inhabiting the coral reefs of the Moorish Wall at a depth of about 100 meters. The oceanographic vessel Atlantniro will dock these days in Nouadhibou, a city in northern Mauritania and near the Saharan border of Morocco, as part of the “Great African Expedition” program launched on August 26 by the Russian Federation of Fishing. Four years ago, the same vessel conducted studies in the waters between Morocco and the Canary Islands.
However, Russian objectives extend beyond the study and capture of fishing resources. This region of the Central Atlantic on its eastern coasts, extending from the Gulf of Cadiz to Senegal, is potentially rich in rare earth deposits, offshore oil, and polymetallic nodules of significant industrial value.
The Russian vessel Atlantniro, later joined by the research vessel Atlantis, will use Nouadhibou as its base of operations, with its 41 crew members on board, including 11 scientists, working for a year and a half. During their stay in the economic capital of Mauritania, Russian scientists will take the opportunity to meet with African scientists and specialists to develop joint research programs. The Russian maritime expedition will conclude in the spring of 2026, at which point both vessels will return to the port of Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea.
Morocco does not want to adopt a passive stance and has embarked on its own plans for the study and research of fishing and mineral resources in its waters. At the Atlantic port of Agadir, Rabat has stationed the vessel Hassan Marrakchi, a scientific ship built by Japan and equipped with modern high-tech equipment. The vessel studying the seabed off the Canary Islands is of purely Japanese manufacture, produced in collaboration between Toyota Tsusho and Mitsui Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of the Tsuneishi group, and financed by Japanese loans. In return, Tokyo has secured significant fishing licenses in the area.