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| Rusted Graveyard |
 Strange dealings in the Western Saharan have left the coastal town of Nouadhibou in a sorry state. The rotting hulks of 300 vessels are scattered along its shores as the residents of the area struggle to survive.
Mauritania's second largest city and economic capital is relatively new to industrial fishing, the industry that accounts for 10% of the country's gross domestic product. According to WWF.com, the country was taking home a mere 20% of their fish supply in 1998 and today the benefit reaped is even smaller.
Though known to European navigators for centuries, these Atlantic waters were ignored by the residents of Mauritania until twenty five years ago when the government realised the the value of its fishing industry. After the purchase of old vessels in the 1980's, many local companies struggled to compete in the global industrial fishing market, and eventually bankruptcy forced many owners to abandon their boats.
But the 300 vessel graveyard existing above, below, and beside Nouadhibou's waters cannot be attributed to simply these entrepreneurs. Corrupt officials patrolling the area once granted foreign fleets from all nations permission to dump ships in the Nouadhibou Harbor at a low price.
Said to be "a hazard to shipping and an ecological threat," the European Union is funding the removal of these vessels as part of an protocol granting EU fishing rights in exchange for money. The project aims to re-float ships and export materials to the waters of Baie du Levriere or set explosives among lingering wrecks.
According to Geographical.com, the abandoned vessels provide fish breeding grounds and a source of employment for the poor of Mauritania. Local markets are stocked with spare parts robbed from unguarded ships, on display for the foreign fishermam. Homeless residents live on board some vessels, surviving on daily catches lurking below.
Berny Sebe, leader of a 2004 Oxford University expedition to Nouadhibou, said that despite the "clear benefits associated with the ships' removal," he will feel "a little sad that this wonderfully surreal sight [will] one day be no more."
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