A workshop on ‘Develop Capacity-Building of Fishers in Mauritius and Rodrigues’ aiming to support the economic empowerment of the artisanal fishing community and to enable the exchange of ideas pertaining to challenges facing the sector opened, this morning, at the Restaurant le Four à Chaud, in Trou d’Eau Douce. The Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, the Australian High Commissioner to Mauritius, Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy, and other personalities were present.
The event was organised by the Fédération des Pêcheurs Artisans de l’Océan Indien (FPAOI) and funded by the High Commission of Australia to Mauritius. Fishing equipment were also remitted to participants. Resource persons were, amongst others, from the Chantier Naval de l’Océan Indien, the FPAOI, SME Mauritius, the Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, and the UNDP.
According to the World Bank, said Minister Bholah in his address, there are some 120 million workers around the globe who depend directly on fishing for their livelihoods, and 97% of these workers live in developing countries which are striving towards achieving modernisation and bringing about development across their territories. Around 90 to 95% of artisanal fish catches are meant for local consumption and in so doing fishers create employment, aid in eradicating poverty and contribute to promoting food security, he remarked. It is therefore imperative to support artisanal fishers, he emphasised.
The Minister also highlighted the need to valorise the work of fishers in the lagoon and to take cognizance of challenges facing the fisher community such as lack of fish in the lagoon, climate change which directly impacts the work of fishers and affects their catch and revenue, and an ageing fisher community.
The Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, stated Mr Bholah, is bringing its contribution to the sector to ensure the welfare of fishermen. He recalled that a cooperatives society federation for the sector has been set up and several schemes have been introduced. Some of these schemes have enabled the following: acquisition of a refrigerated truck to transport fish catches in adequate sanitary conditions imposed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness; and partial funding for the purchase of outboard motor engines. Currently, said the Minister, Rs 10 million is available for the renovation of the Maison des Pêcheurs at Tamarin and this will support the fisher community as it will also house a cold room to stock unsold fish and the infrastructure will be used for fish processing.
In addition, Minister Bholah recalled that the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. He underscored that his Ministry will organise several activities to mark the year. He further announced a series of activities being rolled out for the fisher community such as sensitisation programmes on the challenges of artisanal fishing and training in fish processing.
The Minister moreover commended the work of the FPAOI, which was officially launched in October 2021, and brings together fishers from Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros and Reunion Island.
For her part, the Australian High Commissioner to Mauritius, Dr Kate O’Shaughnessy, shared that it has been a pleasure to work with the FPAOI and the fisher community in Trou d’Eau Douce. This partnership has been really about Australia recognising that with the challenges of COVID-19 and climate change, fishing communities are really badly affected but they also have a lot to offer if they are supported to deal with these changes that are coming, she emphasised. So this partnership is very important for Australia and continuing to work in the blue economy sector with communities would be a priority for us around the region, she concluded.
