The Imraguen, or Imeraguen, are an ethnic group or tribe of Mauritania and Western Sahara. They were estimated at around 5,000 individuals in the 1970s. Most members of the group live in fishing villages in the Banc d'Arguin National Park, located on the Atlantic coast of Mauritania.
Map: The chronology of overfishing in a remote West-African coastal ecosystem / Lemrabott, Sidi; van Leeuwen, Anieke; Piersma, Theunis; Braham, Cheikh-Baye; Ball, Abou Ciré; Araujo, Antonio; Olff, Han; El-Hacen, Hacen
The name Imraguen (Berber orthography: imragen) is a Berber word meaning "fishermen", or «people who fish while walking on the sea», or «those who harvest life».
The Imraguen are believed to descend from the Bafour people. According to the Documentation of the human population of the territory, the Imraguen people lived on the Banc d'Arguin National Park for thousands of years, and its population had probably been larger.
Militarily powerless, the Imraguen were traditionally reduced to the degrading lower-caste status of Znaga, forcibly ruled and taxed (horma) by more powerful Berber, Hassane and Zawia tribes, such as the Oulad Delim and Ouled Bou Sbaa.
In 2008, the Imraguen people occupied 9 small villages along the coastline. Some Imraguen populate the abandoned La Güera fort, which is also the south point of the Western Sahara zone claimed by Morocco.
Historically, Imraguen fishing in Banc d’Arguin was for subsistence and was seasonal, but over the last 40 yr, fishing became commercial. This transition occurred in two phases:
(1) before 1986, Imraguen fishing was seasonal and focused on migratory mullet and to a lesser extent meagre—with some effort spent on small fish in the off seasons; all fish was used locally
(2) from 1986 onward, with the two fishing seasons still respected, the fishing added new species of sharks and rays for their fins and salt-dried meat for export to markets in Asia and the West Africa sub-Sahara, respectively.
A few generations ago, the Imraguen people used to whistle the dolphins to bring them near the shore and catch all the mullets that always followed the dolphins.
The Imraguen people are the only ones authorized to fish in the Banc d'Arguin area, as long as they use their traditional fishing techniques. The number of fishes caught for each species is limited and strongly reinforced by the Mauritanian authorities. In 2004, the Imraguen people agreed to preserve the shark and ray species in the Banc d'Arguin National Park (which became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1989) and traded their nets for money.
The Imraguen people blame the new oil and gas explorations around the Banc d'Arguin area, along with a new road adjacent to the area, as the main factors for the reduction of fish reproduction in the area.
At the Arkeiss village, it is possible for tourists to practice "sports fishing" in the Banc d'Arguin and gather up to 5 kilos of fish.
The Imraguen speak Hassaniya Arabic with some Berber vocabulary related to fishing; their dialect is referred to as the Imraguen language.
The Imraguen are Muslims of the Sunni Maliki rite.
According to “Le livre des Imraguen” by Marie-Laure de Noray-Dardenne, to be Imraguen is to “be part of the rich and fragile ecosystem which makes the Banc d’Arguin a joy of nature. Imraguen means those who live by the sea and who fish respectfully, without spoilage, waste. The Imraguen are the nomads of the sea.
Numbering at the very most about a thousand, the Imraguen are the only people authorized to live in the Banc d’Arguin National Park and to fish in its rich fishing waters. The Park is home to 9 villages, including Iwik, Sidi’s home, the best place for bird observation.
The Imraguen are known for a fascinating, abiding traditional fishing ritual, inspired by the natural conditions of the Banc d’Arguin: responsible and tactical fishing on foot of yellow mullet. From the shore, when a man indicates the passage of a school of fish, others enter the water with nets on their shoulders. By striking the water with sticks, they attract dolphins which create a barrier that prevent fish from escaping to sea. Driven to the shore, the mullets are surrounded by men and captured. Upon capture, the fish are opened, cleaned and dried by women. Every part of the fish is valued, including the ovaries of pregnant females, slightly salted and dried to make the “poutargue”, and the head and organs, boiled in water to extract an oil rich in trace elements and vitamins known as "dhên". These processing techniques, unique to the Imraguen, are ancient skills passed down from mother to daughter.
Canary Island fishermen, arriving in Banc d'Arguin in the 1930s, changed traditional fishing techniques introducing fishing from lanches. These unique motorless sailing vessels, allow the Imraguen to fish off the shallow waters of the Banc d'Arguin. Identified by the Park administration and limited in number, today there exist only a hundred that Imraguen are allowed to use the Park.
According to “Le livre des Imraguen” to live in protected areas such as the National Park of Banc d'Arguin, is to be willing to be guided by the laws of nature and how to safeguard it. Aware of their privileges in particularly in relation to fishing, Imraguens are involved in surveillance of the maritime park. In addition, with the desire to respect the riches of Banc d'Arguin, the Imraguens play a key role in the park, by initiating projects such as Sidi’s.
Sources: