IMROP is the only fisheries research institute in Mauritania. It is a public administrative institution with a cultural and scientific objective. It is the successor to the Centre National de Recherches Océanographiques et des Pêches, better known by its acronym CNROP, which was set up in 1979 and was itself preceded by the Laboratoire des Pêches, which was set up in 1953. IMROP has legal personality and financial autonomy, and is placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy. As stated in the 2002-036 decree transforming the centre into a research institute, IMROP's main purpose is to analyze the biological, physical, socio-economic and technical constraints and determinants of the fisheries sector.