The North Africa Journal: Mauritania Fisheries in State of Disarray

Mauritania Fisheries in State of Disarray
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The North Africa Journal on 26 December, 2008 04:05:00
 
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.