Mauritania octopus - bottom trawl, pot/trap and jig

The Société Mauritaninene de Commercialisation des Poissons (SMCP), the Association Mauritanienne de Producteurs et Exportateurs de Poulpe (AMPEP) and The Global Octopus Supply chain roundtable (GO SR) are developing a Fishery Improvement Project for the octopus fishery operating within Mauritanian waters.

Octopus is a widely distributed species, mainly exploited at depths of up to 150 meters. It is one of the most important harvested cephalopods around the world. Octopus vulgaris is the most abundant and ubiquitous cephalopod species on the Saharan Bank (northwest Africa, from 21oN to 26oN).

In Mauritania waters there is an important industrial fishery targeting this species, but also several small–scale fisheries that have an enormous social and economic impact. 

The recruitment of Octopus vulgaris in Mauritanian, Moroccan, and Galician (northwest Spain) waters is highly linked to Upwelling conditions.

The Mauritanian octopus fishery operates through three distinguished types of segments:

• Artisanal segment, using the pirogues (small open vessels) and decked vessels of of total length less than 15 meters, fishing mainly with pots, traps and jigs
• inshore segment fishing with boats of total length ranging from 15 to 26 meters, using traps and
• deep-sea segment fishing with vessels that use bottom trawls and which differ mainly in the way they preserve their products (freezing or ice).