The Rampant Exploitation of Mauritania’s Octopus Fishery

This project charts the value chain of the octopus fishery in Mauritania, starting from the thousands of boats in Nouadhibou’s harbour. Then, the middlemen, factory owners, and exporters. Millions of dollars are made on the back of the overfishing. Finally, the project investigates the market in Tokyo. Unlike other importers of Mauritanian octopi, such as the Spanish and Chinese, the Japanese market only wants the best quality and is willing to pay top dollar.

Daily Maverick (South Africa) and De Groene Amsterdammer (Netherlands) will publish these stories.