Transparency, protected and equitable access to resources: the stakes of the EU-Mauritius agreement for small-scale fisheries

The European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries (PECH) will vote on 24 May on the proposal for a new protocol of the EU-Mauritius Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA).

During the debate in this committee on 28 March, some members highlighted the lack of transparency regarding the use of sectoral support funds in the previous protocol and asked the European Commission to further examine the needs of the local artisanal fisheries sector. The protocol already provisionally entered into force in 2022, but the Commission is still discussing with Mauritius the priorities and actions to be financed by the sectoral support. "It is clear that artisanal fisheries will be among the beneficiaries," remarked Emmanuel Berck of DG MARE. Artisanal fishers face many challenges: bad weather, overfishing in the lagoons, competition with other fleets and other sectors of the blue economy, administrative difficulties…

Who is a fisherman? Cards that are overdue

Rudy Paul, an artisanal fisherman for more than 20 years in the south of the island, notes the increase in the number of days off due to bad weather: "Our boats remain tied up 6 months a year". On 4 May 2023, the Syndicat de pêcheurs (Fishermen's Union) organised a press conference to denounce the delays in the payment of the Bad Weather Allowance. This allowance compensates artisanal fishermen, whose revenue is well below the average per capita, for their loss of income. Except that they need a fisherman's card to be able to benefit from this allowance of more or less €10 per day for about ten days per month.

The actual number of artisanal fishermen is not known, as many of them do not possess a fisherman's card. The government distinguishes them according to the area where they opperate: those that fish the lagoon, those who fish both in the lagoon and up to 12 nautical miles and those who fish exclusively outside the lagoon. Photo: Miguel Alcântara.

There are more or less 1900 artisanal fishermen in Mauritius, in addition to a thousand in Rodrigues, according to a 2018 report by the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources and Fisheries. But fishermen estimate that there are more. They face many difficulties in obtaining (and keeping) the fisherman's card, which has to be stamped every month, while for many of them fishing is a seasonal activity, so the number of fishermen is underestimated. A procedure to regularise the situation has been announced by the Ministry for over 3 years. At the beginning of the year, the Minister had promised to issue nearly a 1,000 cards, but this has not materialised. Some have been waiting for their cards for more than 15 years.

The Fisheries and Marine Resources Act (Part IV, art. 1) only distinguishes between "artisanal fisherman" and "bank fisherman", requiring a different authorisation. For all other fishing activities, the licence is linked to the fishing gear (nets, etc., see Part VI, art. 28-33) or to the size and type of fishing of the vessel (art. 34-38). With regard to the local sector specifically, a government report separates artisanal fishermen according to their areas: those who fish exclusively on the lagoon in small pirogues (4%, 2018 figures), those who are registered to fish both inside and outside of the lagoon up to 12 nautical miles (58%) and then finally those who fish outside the lagoon (38%).

Getting out of the lagoon: efforts to develop artisanal fishing in Mauritius

The last group of fishermen are part of a semi-industrial fleet that has been built up since the early 2010s. Artisanal fishermen, such as Mohamed Ali "Medali", have reconverted or "professionalised". He set up the Med Fishing Cooperative in 2014 and received a grant of 6 million rupees and a loan of 2 million [more or less €120,000 and €40,000 respectively, ed.] to purchase the SERENITY, a 17-metre vessel that can support between 10 and 15 families. The government of Mauritius has continued to finance new semi-industrial vessels, notably with EU sectoral support funds. "We know that in Mauritius there is a very strong pressure on the lagoon, what we are doing with the government of Mauritius is to try to alleviate the pressure of artisanal fishing on the lagoon and to bring fishermen to go a little bit beyond this lagoon," Mr Berck explained to the PECH Committee of the European Parliament.

Landing of catches from the PERFECT ONE on 12 May, another semi-industrial boat recently acquired by La Goelette Blanche Fishing Cooperative with a grant

In the same vein, a second project of the Mauritian government, also partly funded by sectoral support in the former SFPA protocol, subsidised individual fisherment up to half of the cost of boats of between 6 and 7 metres. These boats allow fishermen to get out of the lagoons, even if they can't really go out to sea. But this canotte scheme has been a big flop: "The boat is not equipped, so the subsidy in practice is only a third" of the cost that artisanal fishermen have to bear, sums up Kenzy Brunet, secretary general of the Mauritius Fishermen Cooperative Federation. "Projects like the Canotte scheme where the fisherman has to go into debt, it makes them poorer". DG MARE admitted that "there have been some difficulties for some fishermen who have not been able to repay their loans."

MEP Carvalhais remarked: "We cannot be involved in unclear sectoral support projects," insisting that this is European taxpayers' money. DG MARE responded that there was "full transparency in the use of sectoral support funds" and reassured MEPs that such projects were no longer on the table for the next protocol.

Reports on the use of sectoral support do reach the European Commission but remain confidential, preventing the concerned coastal communities from knowing how the funds are being used. The publication of the reports has been a long-standing demand by civil society, artisanal fisheries organisations in third countries, as well as MEPs.

Transparency around the fishing effort

Trained by the French, Mauritian fishermen have been using fixed FADs since the 1990s. They traditionally fish for species such as bonito, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna and sea bream. "A large tuna could feed a family for several weeks," says Judex Rampaul, president of the Mauritian Fishermen's Union. However, since the mid-2000s, fishers have noticed a decrease in their tuna catches, as well as in the size of the fish.

With the scarcity of fish, fishermen are going further out to sea, often in boats without geolocation or safety equipment. MEP Pietro Bartolo also called for "decent working conditions for small-scale fisheries". Aware of their government's efforts to move them "further away", the fishermen would like guarantees and to be better trained and equipped. In a letter to MEP Caroline Roose, they denounce the fact that "the training centre at Pointe Aux Sables in Mauritius is still closed because there is no competent person to train the fishermen." They also demand "complete transparency" for sectoral support, especially for projects that would improve navigation equipment and safety at sea for fishermen.

Beyond the lagoon, there are also "the other" fleets. "Medali", a pioneer of this semi-industrial fishing with fixed FADs, notes that "the fixed FAD is obsolete, we can no longer make this small-scale fishing profitable". According to him, the fishing effort of all fleets combined, but especially the overfishing caused by fleets using drifting FADs, both in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Mauritius and in that of the neighbouring Seychelles, prevents the fish from arriving where they used to fish. "The fish no longer have time to reach us. It's an unequal competition," he complains. "Many fishermen have left tuna fishing and returned to fishing in the lagoons," he says.

Despite this, the government continues to encourage the creation of semi-industrial fishermen's cooperatives. On the occasion of the opening of the seining season in March (see below), the Minister "urged young fishermen to register and form cooperatives in order to benefit from the Rs 6 million subsidy for the acquisition of semi-industrial fishing vessels by registered cooperatives."

Mauritian fishers, along with their colleagues in the rest of the southwest Indian Ocean, deplore overcapacity in the tuna fisheries and denounce the lack of transparency. "Publicly available data is too often incomplete, outdated, unverified or difficult to access, which affects the ability of governments to manage their marine fisheries in an effective and sustainable manner, as well as the possibility of effective control, accountability and public dialogue,” note in a position paper the Federation of Artisanal Fishers of the Indian Ocean (FPAOI) and SWIOTUNA, the South West Indian Ocean Tuna Forum, a civil society organisation advocating for fairer access to tuna quotas for artisanal fishers. Transparency is essential for an informed debate among stakeholders on fisheries management in the region.

In Mauritius, the presence of Asian fleets, notably Japanese and Taiwanese, is known, but not the total fishing effort. The new transparency clause in the SFPA Protocol is very clear: "Mauritius and the Union shall share information on any agreement authorising foreign vessels in their waters, including the number of fishing authorisations issued, fishing effort and reported catches, and shall make this information public" (Article 4.4 of the Protocol). It is to be hoped that this clause will be effectively implemented.

In their position paper published on the occasion of the 27th session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), FPAOI and SWIOTUNA also deplore the fact that "unequal access to fisheries prevents coastal communities from fully exploiting the benefits of fishing in coastal waters, while overfishing, damage to ecosystems and climate change make the future of this precious resource even more uncertain and vulnerable". They denounce that the contracting parties are making no effort to enforce the conservation measures agreed to in the IOTC. As we pointed out a few months ago referring to overcapacity, the debate at the IOTC on FADs might made everyone "miss the woods for the tree", as there are "too many boats chasing too few tuna...". As CFFA and the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organisations (CAOPA), of which FPAOI is a member, have been demanding for years, the allocation of access should be based on social and environmental criteria that give priority to those who fish sustainably, and benefit the local economies the most.

The other threats: tourism, fish farms

Jérôme Lafrance, a traditional fisherman in the Roche Noire region of northern Mauritius, urges more attention for lagoon fishermen. "We are the ones who fed the people during the Covid." He lists the species that the populations appreciate: coral fish, captain, parrot, red mullet, cobbler, unicorn, mullet, grouper... "What is being done for us? So that young people are attracted to the sector?" he asks.

Indeed, in the government's plans, these line or basket trap fishers are the most forgotten. They face another competition than the industrial fleets: tourism in the lagoons, a cash cow that represents 25% of the GDP. More than 1.4 million tourists per year, for an island with 1.25 million inhabitants. "Hotels are next to each other, buoys, water activities, motor noise and coral destruction," Lafrance describes the hell of the lagoon fishers and denounces the competition with recreational fishing as well as numerous illegal fishing practices. The Ministry's Facebook site highlights the work of fisheries protection officers. Publications such as "good job" present them as heroes who clean up the coast of abandoned snorkelling masks and arrest a few guys caught with illegal gear. But Kenzy Brunet laments that in practice "there is no surveillance, no monitoring of fish species, no strategy and no closing periods."

Near the coast, a burgeoning industry is also occupying other areas traditionally used by fishers. The Mauritius Fisheries and Marine Ressources Act was amended in 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2019 to facilitate aquaculture, including an increase in the amount of marine space where farms can be developped. The law requires operators to carry out a social impact assessment on local communities before applying for an authorization. Another provision states: "Each demarcated area shall be under the full control and administration of the concessionaire." In other words, the privatisation of a public domain space.

In the new protocol between Mauritius and the European Union, an envelope of €175,000 per year - other than sectoral support - is foreseen. Entitled the "cooperation in the field of ocean economy", it is expected to "strengthen cooperation in the field of ocean economy, which includes aquaculture, sustainable ocean development, maritime spatial planning, marine energy and marine environment". The Protocol also states that "an annual and multi-annual programme of use" will be validated by the Joint Commission. No report on the use of these funds is required, certainly not its publication. Faced with PECH, DG MARE defended itself by saying that they have not yet financed any projects, but rather feasibility studies .... economic feasibility? They did not specify. In the absence of transparency on the activities carried out with these funds, it is not obvious. Above all, independent environmental and social impact studies are needed. The European Union must not support projects through this fund that could endanger the sustainable development of small-scale fishing. In the words of one artisanal fisherman, "it would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul."

A food security net?

"Mauritius has one of the most important Exclusive Economic Zones in the Indian Ocean, but the country finds itself importing fish and seafood," remarked a artisanal fishers in their letter to MEP Caroline Roose. The country is a major exporter of tuna from the Indian Ocean, but local fishers benefit little or not at all from this trade. Foreign fleets, including European ones, fish the tuna in Mauritian waters and land it in canneries, where several hundred women processors are employed. But fishers regret the lack of processing and distribution facilities for local consumption.

Three "Maisons des pêcheurs" (fishermen's houses), in Tamarin, Mahébourg and Cap Malheureux, under the management of different cooperative societies, were intended to help artisanal fishermen store and clean their catch. "The three buildings are in a deplorable state due to the lack of financial support from the government and their administrative slowness," the fishers continue in their letter. They believe that these three houses could provide over 50 jobs for women fish processors.

For the moment, distribution is done with the means at hand. They do not have refrigerated trucks, which prevents the fish from reaching the population in good condition and makes it difficult to sell their products to hotels, as is done in other countries such as the Seychelles or Kenya. Furthermore, fishers and consumers are at the mercy of the middlemen who sell the fish. According to Eric Mangar, director of a civil society organisation, the Mouvement Autosuffisance Alimentaire (MAA), "fish reaches the poorest people at around 150 rupees per pound [6€/kg, ed.]", while middlemen may have bought it at 80 rupees per pound. "Medali", from the Med Fishing Cooperative, further complains that "they set the price but they don't always buy everything." It is cheaper to buy imported products.

The middlemen have a monopoly on the sale of fish: not only do they fix a price with the fishermen when they sometimes do not buy everything, but they also sell the fish at an inflated price, which prevents the poorest people from accessing local fish. Photo: Unsplash.

Nicknamed "the apostle of food self-sufficiency", Mangar works with artisanal fishers to distribute fish at an affordable price. He dreams big: A 30-metre freezer boat that could carry up to 150 tonnes of fish, would allow the collection of fish caught by Mauritian semi-industrial vessels and the distribution of fish at an affordable price (half price), even as far as southern Madagascar.

Conclusion

The heated debate at the IOTC on FADs diverts attention from two major issues that impact artisanal tuna fishermen in the region: overcapacity and inequitable access to resources. The lack of visibility on data, such as catches or licences, makes an informed debate impossible. While this is a small step towards greater transparency, it is to be hoped that the Mauritian authorities will respect their obligation to publish information on the fishing effort in their waters, as required by the new transparency clause in the EU-Mauritius SFPA protocol.

However, it is regrettable that this protocol still does not require the publication of reports on the use of sectoral support funds and cooperation in the field of ocean economy, especially after the failure of some of the projects such as the Canotte Scheme funded under the last protocol. It is essential that these reports are public, not only for accountability to European taxpayers, but also for effective participation of the communities affected by the support. With regard to the blue economy, the EU should take a precautionary approach and ensure that no new ocean use negatively impacts coastal communities. Free, prior and informed consent is essential throughout the process: the implementation of these projects should be done in collaboration with the beneficiaries, from the choice of actions to be funded, to the evaluation.

In this respect, artisanal fishers just need to be listened to, as they are full of ideas - and needs. As mentioned in this article, they want the sector to become more professional, especially through training for young people, but also through training for more safety at sea. Additionally, fishers need geolocation devices, better equipped vessels, more efficient use of VMS. With regard to the cold chain, they lack ice factories, conservation and processing infrastructures and distribution means. They have ideas to employ more women in fish preparation and processing, and young people in the artisanal fisheries sector, such as welders or mechanics.

Banner photo: A drone image of Flic en Flac beach, Mauritius, by Anton Marchuk.

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