Mauritania’s National Multi-Stakeholder Group reviews its 6th FiTI Report

Nouakchott, 19–27 December 2025 – The Fisheries Transparency Initiative’s (FiTI) International Secretariat carried out a technical mission to Nouakchott to support the Mauritania’s National Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) in the conclusion of its sixth annual FiTI Report process, as well as to support national authorities in reviewing the implementation status of corrective actions, stemming from the country’s second validation process.

The review of the reporting process –took place on 25 December 2025 at the Ministry of Fisheries, Maritime Infrastructure and Ports (MPIMP).

This sixth reporting cycle included a change in the outputs of the 2024 reporting process, ensuring that Mauritania’s annual fisheries transparency process creates even greater stakeholder interest and impact for the country’s fisheries. Therefore, instead of the previous two documents for an all-encompassing FiTI Report (Summary Section and Detailed Section), this year’s reporting process produced a dedicated transparency assessment report (referred to as a FiTI Report) as well as a complementary Fisheries Information Report.

According to Mansor Ndour, FiTI’s Regional Coordinator for Francophone Africa: “After the publication of 16 FiTI Reports in six countries, we have seen that the current FiTI Report, combining transparency assessment results with fisheries information as well as recommendations from a National MSG, often means that FiTI Reports serve two stakeholder groups with diverging interests; those interested in understanding the level of transparency in fisheries management and those interested in obtaining fisheries information. It is therefore preferable to address these different interests in separate publications.

We also want to place greater emphasis in the annual reports on the National MSG and its recommendations. While these recommendations have been contained in previous reports, the new FiTI Report will amplify them and give them greater prominence. As a result, the new FiTI Report will be co-published by the National MSG and the International Secretariat, further emphasising the collaborative nature of the FiTI. However, it is important to note that these changes to the reports do not alter the work of the National MSG, which will continue to review the findings presented by the report compiler and formulate recommendations for progressive improvements.”

This marks the sixth annual reporting cycle of the FiTI implementation in Mauritania. During this period, the country has made steady progress and continues to demonstrate strong commitment to improving public access to reliable and up-to-date data through official government platforms.

Based on the transparency assessment conducted for calendar year, as part of the newly structured FiTI Report, the Mauritanian National MSG agreed on 15 recommendations, each aimed at further strengthening fisheries transparency. These recommendations address disclosure of information, availability and accessibility of data, improvements in information quality, as well as actions that go beyond the minimum requirements of the FiTI Standard. While implementation of these recommendations remains voluntary, the Government is required to formally respond to each of them, reinforcing accountability and follow-up.

The National MSG has concluded its review and input phase, and it is now to the International Secretariat to finalise the design of both reports (FiTI Report and Fisheries Information Report) to hand them over to the National MSG for publication and dissemination.

The FiTI International Secretariat also held discussions with Dr Mohamed Mohamed Vall from the Sustainable Artisanal Fisheries Project in Mauritania (PADeM), a GIZ component under the special initiative “One World Without Hunger” (SEWOH) of GIZ Mauritania. These exchanges focused on sustained support to the National MSG and the FiTI National Secretariat, as well as opportunities to further strengthen cooperation and synergies between initiatives active in the fisheries sector.

The mission also included a follow-up on corrective actions with deadlines set for 31 December 2025. Encouraging progress was observed across the vast majority of measures, reflecting strong institutional engagement and a shared commitment to continuous improvement.