Members of the research group acknowledge with thanks the support of Mr. Alain Bonzon (FAO/FIPP) who facilitated the technical co-ordination of the study, the contributions of Mr. Rino Coppola (FAO/FIRM), and the financial involvement of COPEMED. Support from COPEMED permitted Mr. Malouli Idrissi Mohammed from the Centre Régional de l'Institut National de la Recherche Halieutique (INRH) à Nador (Morocco) and Mr. José Antonio Alarcón from the Instituto Español Oceanográfico de Málaga to join in the pilot study.