The Artisanal Fishery

The artisanal fishery comprises all domestic fisheries, including boats ranging in length from 4 to 15 m. The main gears used by the artisanal fishing fleet include hook and line, drop-lines, traps and nets that are used to catch a diverse array of demersal and pelagic fish species. 

The fishery is limited to the Mahé Plateau from the near shore to the edges of the plateau, an area of around 41,000 km2 and operates from Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. More recently the schooner fishery has expanded to the Amirantes Group of islands which is 12 nautical miles from the closest point off Mahé Plateau and 112 nautical miles from the Victoria fishing port.

  Artisanal Fishery catches (Mt) , Years 2007 to 2018
Years 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Total Catches 4,196 4,778 3,031 2,597 2,871 2,506 4,150 3,633 3,214 2,516 4,211 4,740
Demersal Catches 2,562 2,658 1,782 1,453 1,539 1,014 1,557 1,645 1,224 1,076 1,716 2,104
Pelagic Catches 1,497 1,987 1,112 1,016 1,228 1,344 2,410 1,672 1,850 1,301 2,256 2,309
Other Species catches 137 133 137 128 104 149 184 316 140 139 239 328
Number of Boats 384 432 511 439 424 438 425 428 445 476 420 460
Effort (Mendays) 65,505 64,635 44,603 46,153 38,671 33,203 47,082 44,691 50,604 35,286 59,969 61,787
CPUE(kg/Menday) 52.6 62.7 53.4 43.6 56.7 43.1 62.7 48.8 39.7 45.7 46.9 50.9

 

 

List of Artisanal Vessels