The 21st meeting of the Mauritius-Seychelles Joint Commission of the Extended Continental Shelf and the 26th meeting of the Technical Committee of the Joint Commission was held, today, in Port-Louis.
The meeting was co-chaired by the Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, Mr N. K. Ballah, and the Principal Secretary of the Blue Economy Department of the Seychelles, Mr J. G. Kenneth Racombo. The Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations, Mr J. Koonjul, the Commissioner of the Joint Technical Committee, Mr P. Michaud, and other representatives were present.
The meeting took stock of progress made so far in the joint management of the continental shelf. It also focused on deliberations and decision-making based on the discussions of the 20th meeting of the Joint Commission.
In a statement, Ambassador Koonjul, emphasised that the extended continental shelf spanning over an area of about 396,000 km² has immense potential for the economic wellbeing of both Mauritius and Seychelles, hence the need to fully exploit, manage and conserve resources of the ocean’s seabed and subsoil.
For his part, Mr Michaud said that during the meeting, both sides pursued discussions on future collaborations and extended research activities in the joint marine area, and to further explore the power of the blue economy to ensure that this vast potential is put to good use for the benefit of both islands.
It is recalled that in December 2008, Mauritius and Seychelles, both parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, made a joint submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf for an extended continental shelf beyond their respective 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zones in the region of the Mascarene Plateau. In March 2011, Mauritius and Seychelles were jointly conferred the jurisdiction upon the joint area of extended continental shelf.
Seychelles and Mauritius signed two treaties in 2012 to share the management of the continental shelf of the Mascarene Plateau. The first pertains to the joint exercise of sovereign rights by Mauritius and Seychelles on the continental shelf. The second deals with the management of the seabed of the continental shelf.
