Based on the campus of Dely Brahim University in Algiers, Algeria’s school of Marine Sciences and Coastal Planning (ENSSMAL) draws on traditions dating back a 19th-century marine laboratory.
The University Monitoring Station was opened in 1886, becoming the Institute of Oceanography in 1964. This was renamed the Institute de Science de Mer et de l’Amenagment du Littoral (ISMAL) in 1983, and the university took on its current name and status in 2008.
École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de la Mer et de l’Aménagement du Littoral (ENSSMAL) aims to be "a pole of excellence and national research centre on maritime and coastal issues" and a "scientific and technological driver for Algeria’s maritime ambitions". Facilities include two national research laboratories, opened in 2011. These focus on conservation and valorisation resources and marine and coastal ecosystems.
ENSSMAL offers a five-year master's degree in marine science engineering, following the classic Algerian structure inherited from French models. Two years of preparatory courses are followed by a common core year, with the final two years spent on one of four specialist options: coastal development, marine environment, aquaculture, and fishing. The degree includes an internship either at sea or in the field.
Six new courses will be offered under an agreement concluded between the Ministries of Fisheries, and Higher Education and Science in 2022. ENSSMAL was one of four Algerian institutions to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Istanbul in the same year.
