The Mauritian Cabinet approved recently amended regulations to the country’s fisheries electronic reporting system (ERS) to help curb illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and align the country's fisheries to global monitoring, control, and surveillance best practices.
The new fisheries regulations will improve the operational effectiveness of the ERS and the quality of fisheries data and catch reporting, according to a statement from Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam’s office.
"The regulations will strengthen compliance of licensed fishing vessels with regard to fishing and fishing-related activities, and thus support the sustainable management of the fisheries resources of Mauritius," the statement added.
The new amendments force licensed fishing vessel operators to repair installed ERS units within 30 days of any irregularity or malfunction, and repairs must be performed at a port approved by the Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries.
The regulations also make it so vessels will not be allowed to start or pursue any fishing trip until the unit is replaced or repaired, and thereafter verified by the Ministry, to help reduce the risks of operators tampering with or misusing the unit and improve data integrity and recording, according to the statement.
The regulations do give licensed fishing vessels allowance to continue with an initiated fishing trip where the ERS unit becomes inoperative, provided "the Fisheries Monitoring Centre is notified, manual logbooks are kept, and daily fishing data is transmitted by email to the Ministry until the repair or replacement of the Unit to ensure the continuity of reporting by fishing vessels."
The amended rules also reinforce provisions in the Mauritian Fisheries Act, including a provision creating a more stringent penalty regime that leans toward higher fines and longer imprisonment for non-compliance with the rules.
The regulations also give permission to fishing vessel operators to use the same equipment for the transmission of both ERS and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) positional data, thus increasing technological flexibility while maintaining the required reporting and monitoring obligations, according to the statement.
This modified rules were approved by the cabinet five months after Seychelles allowed Mauritius to access its fishing zones under under an agreement that includes the deployment and use of an electronic reporting system.
At the time of the agreement, both countries agreed to operationalize ERS to enable Mauritian vessels to declare their catches, enhancing sustainable fishing and supporting conservation in Seychelles' fishing areas.
“Any Mauritius vessel not equipped with ERS shall not be authorized to enter Seychelles fishing zone to engage in fishing activities,” part of the agreement said.
