Mauritius - Fishing

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The romantic sight of a small rowing boat, bobbing peacefully in a sun-drenched lagoon while its crew pull up a net full of fish, is a glimpse of the tradition behind an expanding fishing industry. Mauritius has 1.7 million km² of marine surface area, known as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which it is intent on developing.

Since the first settlers came to Mauritius, fishing has been confined to the lagoon and offshore lagoon areas. Most fishermen, being Creoles of small means, do not have the equipment or the inclination for fishing far beyond the reefs. They use traditional methods, with wooden (or sometimes fibreglass) boats of 6–7m in length. The crew fish with handlines, basket traps, seines, gill nets and harpoons. These artisanal fishing grounds, the only source of fresh fish supply, spread over an area of 1,020km² for Mauritius and 1,380km² for Rodrigues.

Banks fishery is conducted by motherships using small dories with outboard motors, operated by a crew of three. The mother vessel remains at sea for 35 to 55 days with the dories bringing in their catch for gutting and freezing twice a day.

The mothership’s load is landed at the fishing port of Trou Fanfaron in Port Louis as frozen fish, more than 90% of it Lethrinus mahsena (or Sanguineus), known locally as Dame Berri.

The areas fished are the St Brandon, Nazareth and Saya de Malha banks on the Mauritius/Seychelles ridge, and the Chagos Bank around the Chagos Archipelago submarine plateaux, which lie 20–25m below the surface.

Tuna fishing for mainly skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellow-fin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a major industrial activity. Tuna canning started in 1972 when most of the fish had to be imported from the Maldives.

International big-game fishing competitions are held frequently and are popular with tourists who pay high fees to participate. The catch is mainly marlin (makaira) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius). Smoked marlin is a delicious delicacy served in most upmarket hotels and restaurants.

If you like eating fish, look out for Mama Rouge (orange rock cod: Cephalopholis aurantius), a grouper. It is much in demand, with a flesh that tastes like crab. Mauritian cooks complain that it is priced beyond their pockets or exported to Réunion where people pay more for it. A fish frequently to be found on menus is capitaine (Lethrinus nebulosos), a snapper sold frozen as poisson la Perle.

Fish farming is an old tradition, using barachois, or artificial sea ponds, to breed finfish, crabs and oysters. The local oyster (Crassostrea cuculata) lives in brackish water on rocks and mangrove roots. Efforts to introduce faster-growing species from the USA were tried without success.

A few species of seaweed with commercial importance for the food, cosmetic and medical industries have been identified, as have four marine shrimp species with potential for commercial aquaculture.

The growing of freshwater fish is another possibility. Mauritius, being an oceanic island remote from continental land masses, is limited in endemic freshwater fauna and does not have any freshwater fish or crustaceans suitable for culture, but researchers are experimenting with introducing a wide variety of species for commercial cultivation.

Sea salt, incidentally, is produced in Mauritius, with salt pans along the coast in the Black River district, in the area known as Les Salines. The salt is used for local consumption only.

Development of the EEZ is at present confined to the expansion of all sections of the fishing industry. For the future, however, studies have revealed a wealth of minerals on the ocean floor and there is also the possibility of ocean thermal energy conversion. It all seems a long way from the tranquil sight, beloved by tourists, of a fisherman casting his net in a picturesque lagoon.

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Mauritius - Fishing

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Mauritius - Fishing