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Artisanal fishery is carried out inside the lagoon as well as off lagoon, near the outer reefs. Fishermen use pirogues of 6 to 10 metres long, built out
of wood. They use traditional implements such as hooks and lines, basket traps, large nets, gill nets, canard nets, cast nets and harpoons.
In 1995, there were around 2700 fishermen with 1073 pirogues, in operation in Mauritius. 75% of the pirogues are equipped with outboard motors, 25% equipped with oars and
sails and a mere fraction of the total, fitted with inboard motors.
The catch in tonnes from the lagoon and off lagoon in Mauritius has stabilised around 1600 tonnes per year.
Annual Catch in tonnes, Mauritius Island
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Year
|
Catch
|
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1991
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1568
|
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1992
|
1775
|
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1993
|
1583
|
|
1994
|
1663
|
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1995
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1443
|
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1996
|
1616
|
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In 1996, 997 tonnes came from the lagoon and 619 tonnes were off lagoon catches.
A further 30 tonnes come from Agalega.
Note that in 1977 the total catch was 2120 tonnes and that fell to 1300 tonnes in 1985.
The state of the Environment report states that the maximum sustainable yield for the island of Mauritius
is around 1700 tonnes annually. It is clear that with an actual catch of 1600 tonnes annually, there is little
room for errors. Very quickly and unwittingly ,over-fishing could become a reality, if it isn't already.
Coastal Zones of Rodrigues and Its Lagoon
Efforts are being made to encourage off lagoon fishery in Mauritius by the development of Fish
Aggregating Devices (FADs). FADs consist of floating devices anchored at sea that attract migratory pelagic fishes such as tuna ( Thunnus sp.), dolphin fish ( Coryphaena hippurus), wahoo (Acanthocybium
solandri) and marlin ( Makaira sp.). In 1995, there were 26 Fads in operation around Mauritius with close
to 300 fishermen fishing around the Fads, half of them being actively engaged in this type of fishing.
It is estimated by the Albion Fishing Centre ( Annual Report ) that an annual catch of 700 tonnes is realistic in the short term.
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