Analysis of fish consumption in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania: current constraints and future challenges

The objective of this paper is to present the issues of fish consumption in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania in the context of overexploitation of fishery resources, significant population growth, and increasing food and nutritional insecurity. The method involved compiling data on production (fishing and aquaculture), foreign trade in fishery products, and population to define net supply and apparent consumption. Numerical assumptions were made to project consumption trends up to 2030. The assumptions were based on the identification of past and recent fish consumption trends, incorporating political, ecological, and economic events that could impact the standard of living of West African populations. The results indicate that the production of fishery and aquaculture products in the ECOWAS region and Mauritania increased from 2.1 million to 3.6 million between 2008 and 2022, driven by significant catches in Mauritania and the burgeoning aquaculture industries in Nigeria and Ghana. The reliance on imports to compensate for the production deficit has grown increasingly important. Imports now exceed exports by a factor of three, with an average of 1.9 million tonnes imported compared to 0.6 million exported between 2009 and 2022. Despite a notable increase in fishery product exports from Senegal and Mauritania, this rise has not been sufficient to offset the negative trade balance of the region, exacerbated by substantial growth in imports from Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. Even with the significant imports, per capita consumption within ECOWAS and Mauritania has decreased from 14 kg to 11 kg between 2008 and 2022. This decline in consumption is projected to continue in the coming decade, dropping to less than 9 kg by 2030. The current state of overexploitation of fish stocks, ecosystem degradation, climate change, and significant population growth do not favor an improvement in fish consumption over the next decade. However, meeting the ever-increasing demand for fishery products in West Africa is possible if radical changes are implemented at the forefront of decision-making processes.