Fish Processing Capacity in Mauritania

The Ministry of Fishing and Maritime Economy (MFME) lists 67 premises in Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, getting fish unloaded from the industrial and artisanal (small scale) boats for processing, freezing and storing, or for shipping as fresh products.

Quality and sanitary standards are matching EU requirements.

Reported capacities for these 67 companies are 29,251 tons of storage on land and a freezing capacity of 1232 tons per day. 39 are located in Nouadhibou and 28 in Nouakchott.

The major units (COMACOP, MCP, SMEF) declare storage capacities of 3,800, 3,500, and 3,000 tons respectively and a freezing capacity between 40 and 80 tons per day. However their operational capacity can rather be estimated at only 600 tons per day.

The Mauritanian government is strongly supporting local processing concepts and is favoring foreign companies which would implement such a scheme in Mauritania.