Chinese fishing in Mauritania threatens local fishers ^{CEFR B2}

In June 2010 China, via Poly-Hondone Pelagic Fishery Co., signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with Mauritania. The deal included a USD 100 million investment to build and run a fish processing plant in Nouadhibou and granted long fishing rights to Chinese companies. European Parliament estimates say at least 80 percent of industrial ships in Mauritanian waters are Chinese. Watchdogs and local organisations report widespread industrial fishing, including fishing out of season and illegal activity in areas reserved for local fishermen.

Fifteen years after the agreement, local fishers say many species, such as octopus and yellow mullet, have sharply declined. Fishing represents only 10 percent of Mauritania’s GDP but 35–50 percent of exports and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs. Artisanal fishers using small pirogues and hand-woven nets now return with far smaller catches and some must travel into deeper water, which raises fuel costs.

Chinese state media present a different picture, with outlets such as Xinhua, People’s Daily and China’s Belt and Road Portal praising companies as modernisers and builders, quoting lines like “We sail along the new Silk Road,” and describing plans for roads, cold storage and a “friendship port,” plus trucking water from 10 kilometres away. Consequences extend beyond Mauritania: China is described in the source as the world’s top perpetrator of illegal fishing, and foreign vessels dominate West African waters, with an estimated three-quarters of them Chinese.

• move to cities for work,
• work on foreign vessels under poor conditions,
• migrate to other countries seeking opportunities.

Local groups and international NGOs call on Mauritanian authorities to protect coastal resources and fishermen’s livelihoods. It remains unclear what policy changes will follow.