Imraguen Women’s Mullet Bottarga

In Mauritania, small-scale fishing is threatened by (mostly foreign) industrial fleets which plunder its waters, resulting in serious problems for the local community. Industrial fishing boats typically hire local fishermen, and the fish is then frozen and taken to Europe or North Africa for processing purposes, and as a result, there are serious damages.

About 50% of mullet stocks are at risk, and the fish-processing methods, including the production of bottarga, have been abandoned, as they were traditionally practiced by the local Imraguen women. Nowadays, only a few of them are able to continue with the production of bottarga to make a living.

They first buy the mullet from fishermen, extract the eggs, rinse and salt them, then dry them naturally, producing a traditional bottarga in the process (derived from the Arab word butarikh, meaning salted fish eggs). In 2014, a project was launched in order to develop local salt, which is produced on the Baie de l’Etoile in Nouadhibou, so the delicacy known as Imraguen women’s mullet bottarga is now 100% authentic.