Mediterranean Coast Day 2025 – Samir Bachouche from WestMED Algeria, interviewed on national television

On the occasion of Mediterranean Coast Day, Dr. Samir Bachouche, researcher at Algeria’s National Centre for Research and Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture (CNRDPA) and Algeria’s WestMED  National Hub, was a featured guest on the Algerian national television: Canal Algérie.

During a special broadcast on September 29 2025, as part of the program ‘Bonjour Algérie,’ Dr. Bachouche raised public awareness about the urgent need to protect our shared Mediterranean Sea, translating the symbolic Mediterranean Coast Day of September 25, into a powerful call to action for our coast. The intervention aimed to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public engagement, making the complex challenges of the Mediterranean accessible to a wide audience.

Dr. Bachouche highlighted the sobering projections for the Mediterranean by 2050 from the UN’s Plan Bleu. He emphasized that the basin is a global climate change hotspot, warming 20% faster than the global average. Key figures were used to illustrate the scale of the crisis: over 75% of its assessed fish stocks being overexploited. This alarming diagnosis served to underscore the profound threats to the region’s biodiversity, food security, and the livelihoods of 150 million coastal inhabitants.

The core message pivoted from diagnosis to a proactive roadmap for solutions, firmly attached in the principles of a sustainable blue economy.

Samir Bachouche argued that this paradigm offers a tangible path forward, where ecological preservation and economic prosperity are mutually reinforcing. He outlined concrete opportunities for Algeria and the wider WestMED region, including the development of sustainable aquaculture, responsible eco-tourism that values natural heritage, and investment in renewable energies.

He concluded with a powerful call for collective action, stressing that the future of the Mediterranean depends on the coordinated efforts of policymakers, scientists, the private sector, and engaged citizens.

 

More about the Mediterranean Coast Day: https://coastday.net/

Contact Samir Bachouche: algeria@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu