Mauritania Fisheries in State of Disarray
Mauritanian Fishermen
Once a major fishing hub, Mauritania is now facing a draconian environment as a result of an overnight and poorly planned political decision.
On November 3, 2008, the fisheries ministry enacted a law that banned the export of sea-bream, grouper, and thiof fish. The result was immediate as storage facilities quickly emptied, and refrigeration sites turned off. Entire fish processing plants in the capital Nouakchott and elsewhere have stopped operating.
The decision made by fisheries minister Hassena Ould Ely was based on the assumption that fish consumption in Mauritania should increase and therefore exports to Europe and elsewhere must halt as a result. Despite Mauritania being a relatively large producer of fish, per capita fish consumption is nowhere near consumption elsewhere. On the other hand, Ould Ely argued that the Mauritanian fish sold in foreign markets like Spain should not have lower prices than in Mauritania proper.
With catches at around 680,000 tons each year, fisheries account for a quarter of Mauritania’s budgeted revenue. Most of what is being caught, or 85% is sold to the export market, generating some $400 million annually. With an economy lacking direction and leadership, the industrial sector in which fisheries activities are included, saw its share of GDP drop from 15% in 1995 to a mere 6% today. Over the past decade, fisheries continued to contract due to lack of investments in the sector, in particular with the weak port infrastructure and its inability to cope with demand.
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