Photo credit: Vaghih El Bechiry (Mauritania) Description: Vqghih El Bechiry and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The fish display shown in the picture exists in the central market located in Mokama city, South of Mauritania. The fish displayed in the market are caught from Foum Laklet Lake about 80 km from Mokama. Fish during transportation is usually iced. As normally the case, the man shown in the photo is the fish seller while the buyer is the woman.
Fish displays are often dominated by tilapia, followed by bayad (Bagrus bayad). During the rainy season, African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) contribute to the fish trade in the market. In addition to the mentioned species, other less important species may be displayed in the market.
As the case with traditional fish market, there are wholesalers who deal directly with fishermen while retailers have their displays and sell directly to fish buyers. It may worth noting that the capture fish production from Mauritania in 2017 amounted 794,580 tons while the per capita consumption of fish was 8.2 kg/year in 2016 bearing in mind that most of produced fish is exported (449, 835 tons in 2016).
