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A fleet of motorized pirogues crowd the harbor of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, part of a 4,000-boat artisanal fishery that has exploded since the 1980s. The majority of the boats target octopus that thrive along the coast, where a nutrient-rich upwelling creates one of the most lucrative fisheries in the world, attracting factory trawlers from other nations that go after pelagic fish as well. The octopus catch is Mauritania’s second-largest export by value, largely to Japan. Catches have been falling over the last decade, due to overfishing 50 percent above government quotas, according to fisheries experts. Government officials now close the season for two months each year during the octopus breeding season to allow the species to recover, creating the spectacle seen here.

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A fleet of motorized pirogues crowd the harbor of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, part of a 4,000-boat artisanal fishery that has exploded since the 1980s. The majority of the boats target octopus that thrive along the coast, where a nutrient-rich upwelling creates one of the most lucrative fisheries in the world, attracting factory trawlers from other nations that go after pelagic fish as well. The octopus catch is Mauritania’s second-largest export by value, largely to Japan. Catches have been falling over the last decade, due to overfishing 50 percent above government quotas, according to fisheries experts. Government officials now close the season for two months each year during the octopus breeding season to allow the species to recover, creating the spectacle seen here.

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