This entails the collection of information through focus groups and interviews with fishers and buyers to understand the octopus fishery, number of buyers, prices, processing, export destination and decision-making criteria, in particular whether a fisher is ‘locked’ into a relationship with a buyer. The interviews use the value chain questions included in the STEP survey designed by E. O’Neill of Stockholm Resilience Center. Interviews and focus groups were held with octopus, sea cucumber and cowrie collectors and buyers and seaweed growers. Information has been gathered as to export markets and collector/buyer relationships. The supply chain for octopus has been elaborated, key players identified and links established. Buying price fluctuation has been noted and reasons explored. This information is invaluable when designing an intervention to add value to the fishery or when looking at the viability of new market buyers or destinations. This work in Pemba has been followed up with 'participatory market system development' workshops (supported by FFI) with all stakeholders. This resulted in commitment from all players to play their part in supporting the intervention, including buyers agreeing to negotiate a set price with fisher committees before 'opening day'.

Collaborative management explores opportunities within current fishery regulations and laws and provides an opportunity to make improvements in the management of octopus and other species fisheries. Challenges lie both in lack of capacity of Village Fisheries Committees but also the ability at Fisheries Department level to hand over management responsibilities to these committees. Officers are often unfamiliar with the principles of collaborative management and how it can improve fisheries management locally and assist the Department in discharging their responsibilities e.g. patrolling, local closures etc. Project leaders have involved Fisheries Department officers in all trainings of Village Fisheries Committees and ensured regular feedback to the Department's HQ. A manual has been compiled to assist Department officers and to guide Village Fisheries Committees. It includes sections on: · Standard operation procedures for Village Fisheries Committees · Mechanism for handling conflicts · Process for by-law formulation · Guidelines for record keeping · Strategy for self financing · Communication strategy

Fishers from target communities visit other communities already implementing temporary fishery closures or other marine management strategies. By learning directly from the real experiences of fishers from similar backgrounds to themselves, target communities realise that this is something that they can adapt to their own contexts. Experienced communities often recount not only the benefits but also the challenges that they have faced in implementing community management and thus allow new communities to prepare for, or even avoid these challenges themselves.

The challenge of sustainable governance of marine and coastal resources and territories has recently emerged in Mauritania. Definitely there is still a lack of understanding about what is at stake (environmental, social and economic levels). Therefore our programme invests in awareness raising among challenged stakeholders like the civil servants, fishermen, coastal communities, local NGOs… through: (i) production and up keeping of communication tools (flyers, film, posters, websites, social networks, newsletter), (ii) training courses, conferences…

Implementing a marine spatial planning without knowing territories and resources is meaningless. Major breakthroughs in Mauritanian marine environment knowledge have been made recently that confirm scientific research is highly necessary to set a course towards clean and rich seas. Therefore several tools are necessary to adjust policies to the local context (sea uses regulations, norms and standards…). This is the reason why the programme BOG has supported national stakeholders to consolidate existing knowledge and design research programs to map vulnerable zones. As a result a Maritime Atlas of Vulnerable Sea Areas in Mauritania has been issued in French, Arabic and English. The program also initiated a set of ship-based surveys to assess seabirds and marine mammals off Mauritanian coasts: a key factor to understand and, thus, protect, marine biodiversity. In addition, a monitoring and early warning system for micro-contaminants has been designed and is now operating under the supervision of a coordination of 6 national institutions. Sediments, fish, bivalves, crabs, water are sampled and chemical as well as bioassays and biomarkers analyses were made in order to establish baseline levels of micro-contaminants.

Our project deals with environmental governance within a 20 or 30 years’ time frame. Marine spatial planning issues are very likely to become more and more complex and people in charge in 20 years’ time won’t obviously be the same as today. This is the reason why we have designed and developed a comprehensive capacity building programme including the creation of a Master degree on environmental management of extractive industries (Master GAED), an academic documentation centre, training sessions and internships. In addition, and waiting for this future generation to be ready, we have to get the institutions (and not only people) ready to maintain and use technical tools we have contributed to set up (for example the implementation of a monitoring and early warning system for micro-contamination). Therefore our project provides administration and civil society representatives with equipment and training sessions.