Alfa Service operates one of the largest fishmeal plants in Nouadhibou and manages several foreign vessels. Alfa Service was among the worst violators of Mauritania’s annual fishmeal production quota of 2,000 tons, producing 11,181 tons of fishmeal in 2017, as reported in a 2022 documentary produced by Arte TV.¹

In 2024, Alfa Service held a certification under Friend of the Sea. This program requires fishing vessels to respect local and national fishing regulations.² This certification seems to be in tension with the behavior of ships and plants that are part of Alfa Service’s supply chain. In 2017, a vessel called the Mamuli Ismail that supplies this plant was spotted fishing inside an area in Mauritanian waters reserved for smaller purse seiners, according to a report by Greenpeace.³

Alfa Service relies partially on species that are unsustainable. Among the fish species processed by this plant are flat and round sardinella from Mauritanian coastal waters, according to a Fishery Improvement Project Tracking Database accessed in February of 2025.⁴ In 2023, these two species were classified as “overexploited” in this area, according to the FAO.⁵ This signifies that fish have been caught faster than they are able to reproduce, shrinking the population and reducing their capacity to recover to healthy levels. Despite this assessment, this plant remained as part of a FIP as of 2024.⁶ The continued worsening state of key species that are being targeted by this plant has led some critics to question whether the FIP is more a form of greenwashing than an actual bridge toward improved fishery management.

In July 2020, Mauritanian authorities investigated a Turkish fishing vessel for currency trafficking.⁷ Authorities alleged there was an attempt to illegally smuggle $1.4 million in currency aboard the vessel, which was intercepted while leaving Mauritania’s territorial waters. The operation was exposed by a local intermediary involved with the traffickers, who alerted authorities after a disagreement over his share of the money. The vessel, chartered by Alfa Service, was immobilized by border guards and law enforcement.⁸ The hidden money was confiscated and transferred to the Mauritanian central bank, in accordance with the law., and the ship’s captain was detained for questioning.⁹ “It is a chartered vessel, and Alfa Service cannot legally be held responsible for what is on board it,” a lawyer for the company told Sahara Media, a news outlet that reported on the case.¹⁰ In an earlier investigation into alleged currency trafficking, the company’s Ghanaian owner was named in a 2017 complaint regarding the illegal transfer of $500,000 though no charges were ultimately filed. This alleged smuggling attempt occurred against the backdrop of restricted movement due to the global Covid pandemic, which allowed only cargo ships and vessels to operate freely, according to Sahara Media.¹¹

A video posted to Facebook on April 11, 2024 by Mansour Boidaha, shows plumes of “stinky” black smoke emanating from Alfa Service’s plant, and accuses the plant of “harming the environment and wasting our fish wealth.”¹² The video was shared by Sadaml Hamoud, a resident of Nouadhibou, who said that as a result of the factory’s pollution, elderly residents of the area experienced shortness of breath.¹³ The location of this plant in the video was identified through satellite imagery.¹⁴

Alfa Service did not respond to a request for comment.¹⁵