Turkey imperiling Mauritania’s fish wealth

Aya Ezz

Mauritania is boiling in anger against Turkish interference in its affairs.

Dozens of Mauritanian citizens staged a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on September 4 against Turkish interference in Mauritania and in other African countries.

According to Somali think tank, Mogadishu Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tries to infiltrate Mauritania to steal its wealth and control its economy.

Fishing experts warned recently against the practices of Turkish fishing ships off the coast of Mauritania.

These practices are tantamount to an exploitation of the coast and a violation of fishing agreements signed by Nouakchott and the companies owning these ships.

Turkish fishing ships are active off the coast of Mauritania, in the light of a maritime agreement that restricts the activities of these ships to surface fishing.

Specialists believe that the Turkish ships carry out activities that violate the terms of the agreement.

Fish massacre

Experts in Nouadhibou, a commercial city and Mauritania’s fishing hub, shared videos showing Turkish ships carrying out what they described as “harmful” activities off the Mauritanian coast.

The experts considered the same practices as a massacre for some types of fish.

These fish types will disappear soon because of the same practices which threaten the biological nature of the fish, the experts said.

Hamoud al-Fadel, an expert from the Mauritanian Institute for Ocean and Fishing Research warned against the practices of the Turkish ships off the coast of Mauritania.

He said these practices target some of the most famous fish types in Mauritania.

This fish migrates to the Mauritanian coast to find the trawling nets of the Turkish ships waiting for them, al-Fadel said.

He accused the Turkish fishing ships of violating fishing standards and regulations in the area.