The migration of fishers as a driver of change in local fishers’ identity. The case of Imraguen fishermen in Mauritania

ABSTRACT

Once an isolated territory difficult to access, the Banc d’Arguin has gradually opened up to international marketing channels for fishing products despite its status as a marine protected area. For the past thirty years or so, the park’s rich fishery resources have continued to attract the covetousness of Mauritanian migrant fishermen and fishermen from countries of the West African sub-region. Neighbourhood with the Imraguen over the decades has not been without consequences on their fishing practice, their mentality, their behaviour, their economy and their identity in crisis of recognition. This article aims to analyse the changes that have taken place within this Imraguen fishing community, particularly due to the presence of migrant fishermen who have settled in the park since the mid-1980s.

KEYWORDS:

• Banc d’Arguin
• imraguen
• identity
• fisheries
• social change
• migration

Notes

1. Mauritania has a total of 13 administrative regions.

2. The interviews carried out by these authors with elder Imraguen revealed what defined the origin of the term ‘Imraguen’.

3. He is talking about the Tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron), a relic species that has lived in the Banc d’Arguin for 6000 years at the time when streams and rivers flowed into the sea. This species has adapted to marine waters over the millennia.

4. Excerpt from the life story of Mohamed Cheddad, a former Imraguen fisherman residing in the village of Iwik, whom we interviewed in February 2017 as part of a research project. A few excerpts from his story will be presented throughout this contribution by way of argument.

5. According to Bernardon (1999), a fishing boat was equipped with 7 skate nets, 2 shark nets and 2 tollo nets during the selective fishing season (as cited in Dia, 2002).

6. Kiji is one of the fifteen existing islands and islets in the Banc d’Arguin.

7. For more details on sharing methods, please refer to Dia (2002) and Ould Yarba (2012).

8. It is not rare to meet crew members (migrant and local) sharing a meal together (with an Imraguen captain or Imraguen wholesaler) and exchanging various facts over tea throughout the day. This is the case in Mamghar and Teichott where we have seen this type of meeting.

9. This adaptation is expressed by the number of years of presence in the park, which can reach 10, 15 to 25 years for some migrants (cases identified during a survey carried out in 2014 in the village of Teichott).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Djibril Ly

Djibril Ly is holder of a PhD in geography and spatial planning, Djibril Ly is a young professional specializing in marine protected areas and currently Deputy Director at the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Mauritania. Before joining the Ministry, Djibril worked for seven years at the Banc d'Arguin National Park (a marine protected area classified as a world heritage site) where he was responsible for monitoring the environmental and social dynamics of the park. Djibril Ly is a member of several conservation institutions such as the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas since 2013, the MPA-Fisheries Task Force of the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa since 2015, and recently a member of the Regional Scientific Council of the West African Regional Coastal Observatory.

Gilbert David

Gilbert David is Marine and island geographer by training, he is Director of Research in the French Institute for Development (previously Orstom). He has extensive working experience on ICZM (integrated coastal zone management), marine protected areas and small scale fisheries in island countries and territories, including Caribbean (Haiti, Martinique), Melanesia (New-Caledonia, Vanuatu), Western Indian Ocean (Comoros, Madagascar, Reunion), north of Brazil and Gabon. He was awarded as a member of the MASMA Program Committee in 2004. He was awarded Wiomsa fellow member in 2009. From 2007 to 2010, he worked on the PACOBA project (Project d’approfondissement des connaissances scientifiques des écosystèmes du Banc d’Arguin) in close collaboration with IMROP (Institut mauritanien de recherches océanographiques et des pêches) and PNBA (Parc national du Banc d’Arguin).