Mauritania’s Imraguen fishing culture faces growing threat from climate change

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (MNTV) — The centuries-old way of life of Mauritania’s Imraguen fishing community is coming under increasing threat as climate change, declining fish stocks and changing economic pressures reshape one of West Africa’s most unique coastal ecosystems.

The Imraguen, an indigenous fishing community living where the Sahara Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean, have relied for centuries on traditional fishing practices in Banc d’Arguin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Mauritania’s northern coast. 

The reserve is home to around 4,000 Imraguen and is the only place where permanent settlement is permitted within the protected area.

Fishing in the park remains strictly regulated, with motorized boats prohibited. Instead, fishermen continue to use traditional sailboats known as “lanches,” while preserving distinctive seasonal fishing methods passed down through generations.

During the summer, fishermen wade through shallow waters at low tide, stretching long nets across mudflats while another fisherman strikes the water with a pole to drive fish into the nets.

Veteran fisherman Samata Mahmoud, who has spent his life fishing in the park, said catches have declined significantly over the years, with some species becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Researchers say the decline reflects broader environmental changes affecting the region. Mohamed Ahmed Jeyid, a researcher at the Mauritanian Institute of Oceanographic and Fisheries Research, said warming sea temperatures, ocean acidification and changes in nutrient-rich upwelling systems have disrupted the marine ecosystem.

He noted that catches of mullet, one of the area’s most valuable fish species, have fallen by nearly two-thirds since 2017.

Abderrahmane Chevif Bouhobeiny, president of the Association for the Safeguarding and Preservation of Imraguen Culture, said fish stocks in waters traditionally used by the Imraguen have dropped to less than 30 percent of their levels a decade ago.

Although fishing inside the national park is tightly controlled, conservationists say intensive commercial fishing outside the protected area has added pressure to already declining marine resources.

Environmental changes are also affecting the community’s cultural traditions. Nami Salihy, director of Banc d’Arguin National Park, said younger generations are increasingly leaving their ancestral villages for cities or adopting more commercially profitable fishing methods, contributing to the erosion of traditional knowledge.

Older fishermen recall a time when fishing gear was handmade from natural fibers and catches were abundant enough to sustain local communities without modern equipment.

Women in the Imraguen community continue to preserve traditional roles by drying fish, extracting fish oil and producing jewelry from fish bones, practices that historically ensured food preservation before refrigeration became available.

Fisherman Ahmed Amaida Khaliva said changing fish populations have forced many families to target species that were once considered commercially insignificant.

“We didn’t use to fish for catfish because they had little value, but now we catch them because many of the other fish have disappeared,” he said.

Researchers warn that unless marine ecosystems recover and fish stocks stabilize, the combined pressures of climate change and overfishing could further threaten both the livelihoods and cultural heritage of one of Africa’s oldest traditional fishing communities.