When people are starving, footage of fresh fish used for fishmeal is disturbing

31 January 2022. Fishing port of Nouadhibou. A bystander films a seiner of Turkish origin, EL BOURAGH, disgorging its catches of small pelagics into trucks.

Not much of what is landed is visible, except for some small fish on the ground, which the witness identifies as juvenile sardinella. In general, the transfer of the catch is done through a pipe that sucks the fish from the boat to the truck. This fish is destined to be processed into fishmeal and oil, which is then exported to China, Turkey, or Europe, to feed farm animals, including other fish.

Today, it takes more than five kilos of fish, mostly small pelagics, to make one kilo of fishmeal. In a second video (see below), another witness, Ibrahim, films the surroundings of a 'moca factory' - a fishmeal and oil factory. Huge piles of fresh, shiny, good-sized sardinella and other fish lie on the ground in the sun. If they were treated differently, these fish could probably be used for human consumption in a country and region where malnutrition is rampant.

These videos, transmitted by the National Federation of Artisanal Fisheries of Mauritania (FNPA), once again raise the question of the use of small pelagic fish by the 'moca' factories in Mauritania.

EFFORTS TO REDUCE FISHMEAL PRODUCTION HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL

Since 2015, the Mauritanian authorities, through successive rulings and circular letters, have been promoting the use of small pelagic fish for human consumption, and trying to reduce the quantities that are being processed into meal and oil. Already, in a 2015 circular letter, the Minister in charge of fisheries asked to "redirect the action of the fishmeal and oil factories towards its objectives of processing and recovery of fish waste and scraps". Each factory was authorised to process 10,000 tonnes of whole fish, corresponding to 2,000 tonnes of fishmeal, with the intention of reducing this quantity by 15% over the following four years.

In 2017, the authorities adopted additional measures to discourage the production of fishmeal and fish oil, such as increasing export taxes (from 1% to 8%). However, by 2020, due to lax controls and a lack of facilities to process these small pelagic fish for human consumption, the opposite was true, with production figures for fishmeal and oil tripling.

In a ruling issued in May 2021, the Mauritanian authorities introduced a new condition for fresh fishing vessels for small pelagics. Within three months, they must all "be equipped on board with functional devices for the conservation of fishery products, such as the RSW (Refrigerated Sea Water) system or conservation under ice in boxes". In addition, "the conditions of landing, handling and transport must meet the environmental, technical and sanitary standards in force or recognised as such [...]. Any products that become unfit for human consumption could be directed to fishmeal".

The footage provided by the FNPA gives little indication of the preservation systems on board the vessel EL BOURAGH. On the other hand, it is clear that the conditions of landing, handling and transport do not meet health standards: the trucks are not refrigerated, and fish without refrigeration, in the sun, or placed in a heap on the ground very quickly becomes "unfit for human consumption".

The figures for the first half of 2021 show that processing into fishmeal and oil remains important, even if it has decreased slightly: in the first six months of 2021, 60,000 tonnes of fishmeal were produced and exported, almost 50,000 tonnes to Asia, as well as more than 10,000 tonnes of fish oil, almost all of which was exported to Europe, particularly France. If the trend is confirmed for the end of 2021, nearly 600,000 tonnes of small pelagics, a good part of which could have been used to feed the population, will become fishmeal and oil. There are still too many small pelagics - including round sardinella, an overexploited species - going to fishmeal.

As journalist and activist Maimouna Saleck, who witnessed the landing of a Turkish seiner at the port of Tanit, points out: "What was reassuring was the presence of IMROP scientists, but the number of boxes of frozen fish for human consumption was insignificant compared to the quantities taken by the trucks for fishmeal".

Many in the artisanal fisheries sector, as well as in civil society, are calling for the number of factories to be limited to two or three in order to absorb only waste and non-consumable species, for greater transparency in the sector, and for monitoring of compliance with the standards set by the authorities and, at the same time, for the development of processing capacity for products intended for human consumption.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE EU-MAURITANIA SFPA

In the latest protocol of the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and Mauritania, several measures are taken in this direction. Mauritania's commitment to adopt a plan for the sustainable management of small pelagics, based on the recommendations of the Joint Scientific Committee, should make it possible to reduce the fishing effort on sardinella resources. This committee proposed a ban on the use of the two species of sardinella for fishmeal in 2021, a reduction in the size of fishing gear, particularly Turkish seiners (coastal vessels), and the introduction of quotas to limit catches by the various fleets.

On the other hand, axis 6 of funding under sectoral support is intended to assist and promote the human consumption of fisheries products. This aspect of the partnership is essential, because without an improvement in the capacity to freeze, store and process the small pelagic fish landed daily, the massive processing of this fish into fishmeal and fish oil will continue, to the detriment of added value and the food security of the most precarious populations.

Banner image: A woman processor in Kafountine (Senegal) by the MEDIAPROD Agency. Fishmeal and fish oil factories compete with women processors for access to small pelagics.

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