Growing Diversity – North Africa
TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Imraguen: Community small-scale fishermen in the Banc d’Arguin National Park
AUTHOR: Banc d’Arguin National Park (PNBA) and the Imraguen fishermen
COUNTRY AND REGION: MAURITANIA, the region of the Banc d’Arguin
ECOLOGICAL ZONE: The Banc d’Arguin is an area of fish breeding on the Mauritanian Atlantic coast bordered by the Sahara desert on the east.
ABSTRACT
Fishing is very important in the Mauritanian economy. Fish is the main available source of food as agriculture is not very well developed because of the desert conditions which prevail inland. Mauritania is well known for its fertile fishing grounds situated along a 900 km coastline. In the Banc d’Arguin the fish population exploited by the fishermen is renewed.
The Imraguen community is berber speaking, it includes various populations from different places and has lived in the park for many centuries. Around 1500 Imraguen live in eight villages scattered over the 180 km of coastline of the National Park of the Banc d’Arguin. They carry out their own type of small scale fishing. It is a communal form of fishing dependant on the yellow mullet, their staple food. The small scale fishing is carried out with small sailing boats. This type of fishing deserves to be called « environmental friendly ». Nowadays, however, this small scale fishing is being transformed into a commercial type of fishing. Fishermen from Senegal, Ghana and other West African countries are in competition and carry out small scale fishing (with motor boats) for moorish master mariners. Industrial fishing is carried out by foreign vessels. Deep sea species are captured by trawlers from Russia, the Netherlands, Lettonia etc. The international market has been the cause of this race for the new system of exploitation. The very important amount of Mauritanian fish exported to foreign countries has an impact on the economic situation of the country (the price of fish on the market has tripled in three years) and on the fish population equilibrium (resources are decreasing rapidly and the same threats may operate in the Banc d’Arguin National Park).
In order to respond to this threat, the Banc d’Arguin National Park in consultation with the Imraguen has carried out programmes to support the joint management of the park biodiversity. Imaraguens have become actively involved in the conserving of resources: fishing village cooperatives have been created; one project has undertaken the restoration and the building of « lanches » (boats equipped with a traditional sail); motorised fishing is forbidden in the park to avoid over fishing; the Imraguen have agreed rules with the Banc d’Arguin National Park to limit their fishing; and the biological cycle of some species are being studied to avoid their extinction.
CONTACT:
PNBA, tel : 222 52 585 41(-fax : 2) Mathieu Ducroq, fax : 222 52 918 09. BP 53 55 Nouakchott, Mauritanie. fiba2req@opt.mr