The Fisheries Sector in the Context of a Sustainable Future for the Blue Economy in Mauritius

Abstract

The Republic of Mauritius possesses an immense maritime zone of 2.3 million km2 with an exclusive economic zone of 1.96 million km2 and a continental shelf of 396,000 km2 co-managed with the Republic of Seychelles. The state’s vision is to make fisheries an economic pillar with due regard to the sustainability of aquatic resources. The fisheries sector presents a substantial potential for Mauritius on three fronts: its contribution to the national GDP, the socio-economic well-being of local communities, and the geopolitical role of Mauritius in the Western Indian Ocean tuna exploitation. However, the sector faces substantial challenges. A triangular approach with published data, desk research, and focus group discussions is used to analyse the manner through which these challenges unfold themselves within the socio-economic context. Despite various state initiatives and related projects, local fishing communities continue to face major difficulties including lack of access to finance, complex and bureaucratic processes, poor commercialization and distribution facilities, lack of proper information and communication, and limited and expensive cold storage facilities. The industrial segment is strongly linked to fishing access agreements with foreign-owned fleets that bring geopolitical challenges and tensions with conflicting local views. There is still a lack of an enabling environment with the persistence of major management and governance challenges, and limited skilled and technical personnel. Essential data and fisheries parameters to allow better decision-making are lacking. The Mauritian fisheries sector is at a crossroads and a new type of thinking, aligning its potentials, is needed to unleash its development potential.