EU-Mauritania SFPA: scientists highlight key sustainability issues, do not consider coral reefs protection

At the start of October, the minutes of the last EU-Mauritania Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) were published.

This committee annually brings together scientists from both parties to monitor the state of the various fisheries and advise the Joint Committee that oversees the implementation of the EU-Mauritania Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA).

Although this almost 90-pages long document is dense and riddled with scientific jargon, it is worth the read. It reveals that there is still a long way to go to ensure all EU fleets active in Mauritania fish sustainably, particularly when it comes to the monitoring and limitation of by-catches and discards. It shows as well how the EU fleet fishing for small pelagics, particularly the East European vessels, continue to disregard their obligations to embark observers on board. But what the minutes do not say is also important: surprisingly, the JSC fails to properly examine measures for protecting Mauritania deep water coral reefs, a vulnerable marine eco-system.

1. When is fish a “by-catch”?

Generally, we think of by-catch as animals caught in a fishing operation, that the fishers do not want, cannot sell, or are not allowed to keep. But this is not always the case. For EU shrimp trawlers active under the Mauritania SFPA, up to a third of their catches are considered by-catch, even though these are highly valuable species: fish (up to 15%), cephalopods (up to 8%) and crabs (up to 10%). For the 15 European shrimp trawlers that operated in Mauritanian waters in 2022, monkfish and octopus dominated the by-catch and were sold by the operators. In practice, as pointed out by the JSC, these so called “shrimp” trawlers have not one target species, but three: shrimp, fish, and cephalopods. As in other multi-species SFPAs, a first question that springs to mind is whether and how the access to these “other “target" species is measured when fixing the costs of access for the shrimp trawlers.

Another issue with by-catch is that they are not taken accurately into account in resource management, which focusses on managing fisheries based on their primary target species. A case in point highlighted by the JSC is the large quantities of by-catches of black hake in the landings of small pelagic fisheries: “analysis of the data shows that 38% of hake production in the Mauritanian EEZ comes from by-catches in other fisheries… with EU small pelagic trawlers being responsible for more than 90% on average over the last four years (2019-2022) of these by-catches.” So, 34% of hake production in Mauritania is caught as a by-catch by EU small pelagic trawlers.

Sometimes up to a third of catches by European shrimp trawlers in Mauritania are bycatch, even though these species can also be of great commercial value, such as monkfish or octopus, which are marketed in Europe. Photo: Targeted capture and by-catch by a trawler in Brittany (France), by Olivier Dugornay/Ifremer.

This must be good news for the operators: a kilo of hake is worth much more than a kilo of sardines. But this is bad news for hake, which scientists consider an over exploited resource. For the JSC, this situation of over-exploitation is partly linked to the by catch made by small pelagic trawlers. Reducing fishing mortality of the black hake to allow it to recover is a must, and, to achieve that, the JSC calls for a total ban on demersal by-catches (including hake) made by small pelagic trawlers fishing under the SFPA: “this measure is likely to discourage the supposed targeting of black hake […] but it could increase the level of discards and/or misreporting.”

If this call for a ban on demersal bycatch is welcome, it is difficult to envisage how it will be implemented and controlled. Currently, Mauritanian legislation authorizes a maximum of 3% by weight of by-catches for the small pelagic trawlers operating under the SFPA. The JSC warns that ”by-catches have greatly exceeded the 3% authorized by the protocol over the recent period, particularly over the last three years, mainly due to an increase in small tunas”. However, the JSC also acknowledges that “the share of by-catches for demersal species is less than 1% in recent years, and remains below 3% if hake is included.” Yet, in relation to the species total allowable catch potential, this represents a big share for some resources, like hake. The problem is that the SFPA protocol defines a 3% by-catch rate without specifying the nature of the species concerned. To address that, the JSC recommends defining the list and percentages of target species (primary and secondary) and those authorised in by-catches. Only then will it be possible to ensure a ban on by-catches of demersal species.

The practice of discards, - animals caught that the operators do not want to keep and throw back at sea- is another concern for the sustainability of EU trawlers operating under the SFPA, particularly shrimp trawlers. The SFPA parties asked the JSC “whether the number of trawlers operating at the same time could be increased from 15 to 18 without increasing the Total Allowable catch (TAC) for this category.” In short, the JSC answer was “yes, but” because “shrimp trawling produces high levels of discards,” so increasing the number of shrimp trawlers will also increase the quantities of animals discarded. Rather than increasing the number of shrimp trawlers, the priority should be to eliminate the wasteful practice of discards for fishing taking place under SFPAs. As the JSC suggests: “it could be interesting to look at the policy put in place by the European Union [to eliminate discards, ed.].”

2. Don’t be fooled - ecolabelling fishmeal and fishoil will not lead to sustainability

Small pelagics catches by EU vessels in Mauritania have been falling steadily since 2011, and are well below the 225 000 tons limit authorised by the SFPA Protocol: the JSC indicates that, for the last three years, they have been below 50 000 tons - only 4% of the total catches of small pelagics caught in Mauritanian waters. The extension in 2012 of the inshore trawler exclusion zone, from 13 to 20 miles, means that sardinella, a species also caught by small scale fishers, key for food security in West Africa, has barely featured in EU catches in recent years, as the majority of EU vessels targeting this species withdrew. Since 2020, horse mackerel and mackerel have been targeted, mainly by EU fleets from EU eastern countries like Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Small pelagic stocks in West Africa are shared between several coastal countries (Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia), and these resources should be managed at regional level. The JSC reiterates this call: “the sustainability of the exploitation of these shared resources, some of which are overexploited, can only be ensured within the framework of concerted sub-regional management,” and recommends that Mauritania speeds up the implementation of the recommendation from the small pelagics management plan, “to set up bilateral management mechanisms with neighbouring countries (Morocco for sardines and Senegal for sardinella).” It concludes: “without regional management and an agreement on the distribution of the TAC between the coastal countries, it is impossible to establish a balance for each coastal state separately.” And therefore impossible to establish whether there is a surplus for EU vessels under each SFPAs…

For stocks shared between countries in the region, such as several species of small pelagics, it is impossible to establish the existence of a surplus to which foreign fleets could have access, if there is no regional management of resources and distribution of quotas between the coastal countries concerned. Photo: A fishmeal factory in Mauritania, by Francisco Mari/BfdW.

In Mauritania, in the last years, a large proportion of catches from small-scale and “inshore” fishing - the latter including 40 meters chartered Turkish purse seiners-, has been destined for processing into fishmeal and fishoil. According to figures provided in the JSC report, in 2018 and 2020, fishmeal exports reached a record of 127,000 tons, corresponding to approximately 600,000 tons of fresh fish. The fishmeal/fishoil production has fallen since 2020 as a result of measures taken by the Mauritanian government to encourage the use of small pelagics for human consumption. The JSC further highlights the progress made towards monitoring fishmeal plants: “the aim of this close monitoring is to track the specific composition of the catches landed and their size structures. It is also used to determine the specific composition of the species processed into meal.”

However, surprisingly, the JSC, having noted “the certification process for small pelagic fisheries, initiated by certain operators in the fishmeal industry,” then “urges the stakeholders to complete this process, which will ensure the sustainability of these resources.”

As we recently showed in our policy brief “Certifying the unsustainable”, this eco-certification process for fishmeal and fishoil in Mauritania, and the claims it makes about its progress to date, amounts to greenwashing. Rather, SFPA partners should focus on recovering small pelagic fish resources and safeguarding food security and livelihoods, something the EU can further support, including through the SFPA sectoral support.

3. More sanctions for those who refuse to embark observers

The availability of detailed information on fishing activities and the exploited species is an essential element for scientific assessments and, ultimately, for fisheries management. In 2020, together with Birdlife and WWF, CFFA raised the alarm about the case of some EU vessels, flagged to Lithuania and Latvia, fishing for small pelagics under the EU-Mauritania SFPA, that were refusing to take scientific observers on board. To address this, a measure was introduced in the new 2021-2026 EU Mauritania SFPA protocol: if a trawler refuses to take on board scientific observers, it will not be allowed to leave port.

But there we are, two years into the new protocol, and the JSC still complains that, for the small pelagic fisheries, “the number of observations at sea carried out on board EU trawlers has been very low, or non-existent, in recent years”. The JSC explains that this situation was due to the difficulties of taking observers on board during the COVID pandemic, but also to a refusal on the part of shipowners, citing a lack of space on board due to the obligation to take on board 60% Mauritanian crew. The JSC adds that “In view of the high levels of discards mentioned above, there is an urgent need to find a solution to re-establish a satisfactory level of observations at sea on board EU trawlers’”.

The JSC further underlines that, under the new protocol (Appendix 11) "In the context of the obligation to take two observers on board, one of the two will be deducted from this minimum number of Mauritanian seamen.” So, there is absolutely no reason for these vessels not to embark scientific observers.

It would seem like the current measure – not letting the vessel leave the port if observers are not embarked- is not sufficient. We therefore reiterate the recommendation we made in 2020, that, further to that measure, the renewal by the EU of the fishing authorization should be conditioned to the embarkment of scientific observers as required by the protocol.

The JSC also highlights that “the breakdown of catches by species should be encouraged for all fleets. On-board scientific observers play an essential role in improving the separation of all commercial species and should be strengthened on all fronts (whether via the EU agreement, the introduction of mandatory observers as on industrial vessels in Morocco, etc.).” Through the SFPA, the EU should support Mauritania efforts to generalize the embarking of scientific observers. A particular issue to address in that context will be how to pay these observers, how much vessels owners should contribute to it, and how this should be done to ensure observers’ independence – indeed, the JSC notes that “low levels of remuneration appear to be one of the main reasons why it is difficult to find scientific observers.”

4. When will the world's largest cold-water coral reef be protected?

The largest known cold-water coral reefs in the world are located in Mauritania, on the upper part of the slope, at depths of between 400 and 600 metres, between the Senegalese border and Cape Timiris, and extend over more than 500 km. They were discovered in 2005 during offshore hydrocarbon exploration and subsequently studied during Spanish, Mauritanian and German oceanographic campaigns. These reefs grew rapidly during the last ice age, and are still home to living corals and a large community of organisms, including commercial species and others that form the food base for many fish stocks. There are crustaceans, cephalopods and a species of oyster that can live up to 500 years. There are also sea turtles, blue whales in late winter and seabirds in summer. Trawling, as well as the pollution, noise and increased shipping associated with hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, pose major risks to this fragile habitat.

Mauritania's hard-bottom coral wall and the activities of European trawlers. Click on the image to see the full screen. Sources: IMROP, Mongabay, Report of the JSC. Design by Esther Gonstalla.

The importance of preserving biodiversity is recognised worldwide by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as the cornerstone of sustainable use of natural resources. In Europe, this is reflected in a policy that protects cold-water corals from physical disturbance (Habitat Directive).

The question is why, given the knowledge accumulated since 2005 about this vulnerable coral ecosystem on the Mauritanian slope, it still does not benefit from adequate protection, including under the SFPA. This is all the more surprising given that the current operations of the EU fleet, since 2005, have taken place outside the framework established by the CBD for the protection of these vulnerable ecosystems.

Although Mauritania's deep waters are now among the best studied in the world, and vulnerable marine areas have been mapped in detail, no protection measures have yet been put in place. The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement continues to allow Spanish bottom trawlers access to this fragile coral zone. The impact of trawling by EU vessels on these fragile eco-systems has never been addressed by the CSC. Until now. Indeed, the committee's latest report notes that the subject was "briefly discussed" and comments: "Analysis of the fishing activity of trawlers shows that fishing vessels operate in areas defined as areas of ecological interest. This can be a source of threat to biodiversity. To this end, the CSC, not having sufficient time to explore the potential impact of trawler fishing on these areas, proposes to analyse the issue in depth at its next session and to consider the recommendations of the study (Ramos et al, 2018)."

These recommendations include a proposal for the creation of 5 marine protected areas, which would cover only 0.72% of Mauritania's EEZ. There is an urgent need for the EU to support the creation of these zones, not only to protect this fragile ecosystem from trawling, but also from the oil and gas industry, which has already damaged it by running a pipeline through it. The oil and gas companies are currently studying the feasibility of running a second pipeline through this ecosystem, which would also cross the fishing grounds of EU vessels. In the short term, experts with in-depth knowledge of this subject should be involved in future CCS work to ensure the survival of these ecosystems through appropriate protection measures. This would strengthen the EU's position as a leader in marine conservation, while demonstrating its unwavering commitment to compliance with international regulations.

Banner photo: photo of the Banc d’Arguin, by Carlos Reis.

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