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The banks are fishing areas located along the Mauritius-Seychelles ridge. These are the Saya de Malha and Nazareth Banks, the St Brandon group of
islands and the Chagos Archipelago. There are 15 boats in operation on the banks and the catch is about 5200 tonnes annually.
90% of the catch from the banks consists of fishes from the Lethrinus species known locally as "Dame Berri" and "Caya". The remaining 10% consists of
"Carangues", "Vacoas", "Croissant" and "Vieilles".
The following table illustrates the annual production (in tonnes) by banks for the 1991-1995 period.
|
Year
|
Saya de Malha
|
Nazareth
|
St Brandon
|
Chagos
|
Albatross
|
Total
|
|
1991
|
1782
|
793
|
369
|
358
|
161
|
3463
|
|
1992
|
2835
|
980
|
446
|
317
|
194
|
4762
|
|
1993
|
3173
|
1358
|
550
|
195
|
261
|
5577
|
|
1994
|
3167
|
1591
|
224
|
307
|
232
|
5521
|
|
1995
|
2682
|
1609
|
470
|
218
|
312
|
5291
|
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The State of the Environment report states that the total annual allowable catch on the Saya de Malha bank had
been established to be about 1900 tonnes. In view of the above figures it is clear that either some degree of over
fishing is going on or that the estimate of the total annual allowable catch should be reviewed.
In fact for the fishing season of September 1995 to August 1996, the total allowable catch ( TAC ) had been set at
4752 tonnes by government and this TAC is set to be reduced by 5% each year till the year 2000 ,to permit the resources to recuperate ( 1995 Annual report of Albion fisheries research centre).
This alone indicates that over fishing on the banks has occurred and measures must be taken to prevent collapse of the fishing stock in the future.
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