In the harbor of Nouadhibou, Mauritania's second largest city, 48-year-old fisherman Atigh Boucavar leans exhausted against a stack of octopus traps. Around them, thousands of blue and white boats bob in the water as dock workers load the boats with engines, fuel and supplies. Dozens of men carry bags full of freshly caught squid to the dock and the stench of rotting fish fills the air.
Mauritania is home to the largest artisanal octopus fishery in the world: around 50,000 fishermen with a fleet of 7,500 boats catch octopus. Boucavar and his six-person crew often spend up to 20 days at sea and earn just under five euros per kilo, a small profit that they divide among themselves. But these days they often come back empty-handed. The competition is tough. “It's a dangerous job, but I have no choice, I have to go out to sea to survive,” he explains.
Some of the richest fishing grounds in the world lie along the West African coast. Cold, nutrient-rich water bubbles up from the depths, fertilizing the surface water and creating perfect conditions for marine life and profitable fishing. In Mauritania's exclusive economic zone, 200 species are fished commercially, from octopus to crustaceans to sea bream.
Fishing has become the country's second largest industry after iron ore mining. Mauritania issues fishing licenses to giant trawlers from China, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Europe. They mainly fish for small sardines, which are processed into fishmeal for animal feed. According to the fisheries agreement concluded in 2022, 86 European Union vessels are authorized to catch 290,000 tons of fish annually in Mauritanian waters until 2028.
Until 2012, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese vessels dominated the octopus fishery, often using destructive bottom trawling. Since then, the Mauritanian government has implemented a policy to encourage domestic production, allowing only Mauritanian companies to fish for octopus. Although local boats do not have very advanced technology, this does not prevent overfishing. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), annual catches of the octopus in Mauritania exceed what is considered sustainable by 49%.
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Cost effective and easy to capture
In Nouabidú, a city of 140,000 inhabitants, there are more than 50 squid processing plants. Most of the octopus consumed in Europe comes from West Africa and Nouadhibou exports about 30,000 tons annually, mainly to Spain and Japan.
“Because of its market value and because it is very easy to catch, the Octopus vulgaris is a very economically profitable species,” says Babana Yayha Emhamed, Inspector General of the Ministry of Fisheries. He sits at a lonely gas station between Nouadhibou and the capital Nouakchott and drinks sweet mint tea. The desert stretches on both sides of the asphalt road. “Unfortunately, we have been seeing the population decline for several years, even decades.”
The majority of octopus consumed in Europe comes from West Africa. About 30,000 tons of octopus are exported annually from Nouadhibou, mainly to Spain and Japan.
The inspector is concerned because too many people rely on catches: “The hunger for this resource is huge,” he says. In 2021, the sector in Mauritania was already worth almost 300 million euros, a lot of money in such a poor country. Competition among fishermen is fierce. “The fish eat each other and so do the fishermen,” says the inspector: “There is the big importer who buys the product and tries to manipulate the Mauritanian producers.” The producers manipulate the middlemen, who in turn manipulate the artisanal fishermen. “Everyone is a slave to each other,” he explains.
The common octopus lives 250 meters deep on the Mauritanian coast. With its blue blood, three hearts and eight tentacles with 500 million nerve cells, it is one of the most fascinating creatures in the animal kingdom. It has short- and long-term memory and is capable of feeling joy, joy, pain and sadness. It is not only a very intelligent creature, but also a sought-after delicacy: whether grilled, in a sack, as tapa or sushi, the octopus is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. Its unique flavor has caused the global catch to increase tenfold between 1950 and 2018, to almost 380,000 tonnes. Given this increasing demand, the question arises as to how resources can be managed sustainably.
A Japanese aid worker was the one who started the octopus fishery in this West African country. Masaaki Nakamura first traveled to Mauritania in 1976 as a representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. Nakamura traveled and thought about the possibility of developing the octopus fishery, but he found that “there was nothing.” Nothing but desert. I do not know what to do.
One of his first challenges was finding fishermen. In 1981, there were only 1,800 artisanal fishermen in the entire country. Starting with ten fishermen, Nakamura set out to build a complete, unionized Mauritanian industry. He taught them the traditional Japanese method of catching octopuses using clay pots. A Japanese company bought the catches. Nakamura now sees the dark side of the rapid development of fishing in Mauritania. “China has a huge fleet of hundreds of trawlers off the coast of West Africa and they are stealing all the resources,” he says, emphasizing: “We have to act now.”
Boucavar looks to the horizon, where the silhouette of huge trawlers and fishing boats belonging to foreign companies is drawn in the middle of the fog. “We fishermen are the losers.”
According to the FAO, annual squid catches in Mauritania exceed the amount considered sustainable by 49%
Indispensable for biodiversity
From her air-conditioned office on a cliff overlooking Nouadhibou Bay, Beyah Meissa, a marine biologist at the Mauritanian Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Research, explains why octopuses are important for biodiversity. As predators, they hunt crabs, mussels, molluscs and fish. These animals prevent overpopulation of the food chain and maintain the balance of the marine ecosystem.
The marine biologist is concerned: “The population is actually being overexploited.” The threats are diverse: There are more new boats, industrial fishing has expanded to coastal areas and mussel shells, the main source of food for octopuses, are now intensively caught for the Chinese market. There are also the effects of climate change, such as increased water temperatures.
To limit the damage, the Mauritanian government has taken several protective measures to stop the depredation of octopus populations, such as establishing a fishing quota and protected zones. Catching them is expressly prohibited during the spawning season.
The fishermen always manage to circumvent the law; This is fishing anywhere in the world. As with human trafficking, drugs or smuggling, a lot of money is at stake
Beyah Meissa, biologist at the Mauritanian Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Research
The Coast Guard monitors the area of more than 200 nautical miles using the latest technology in the areas of satellites and radar, surveillance vessels and patrol vessels. It also ensures protected zones and the Banque d'Arguin National Park, the largest coastal reserve in Africa, south of Nouadhibou. The park is a breeding ground for octopuses and a wintering area for more than two million migratory northern birds. But illegal fishing is increasing there. The Coast Guard does not have enough resources to monitor the entire fishery.
“Fishermen always manage to get around the law; This is fishing anywhere in the world. As with human trafficking, drugs or smuggling, there is a lot of money at stake,” says Meissa.
Fishermen in Nouadhibou are putting pressure on the government to keep the fishery open. At the Tako bar in the harbor you can understand why. Expensive beers are in circulation despite their opposition to the criminal code based on Sharia, Islamic law. Background music plays over loudspeakers as Ghanaian fishmeal producers and European octopus exporters eat grilled fish and drink whiskey. One of the traders assures: “You can get rich quickly and easily here.”
This report was supported by the Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten (Fund for Special Journalistic Projects) and the Pulitzer Center.
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