Mauritius to advance sustainable offshore fishing under African SIDS project

Mauritius is set to strengthen sustainable offshore fishing practices and promote value addition within local artisanal fishing communities through a new initiative aimed at supporting the development of the country’s Blue Economy.

In this context, the Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries will sign a Grant Agreement with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa for the implementation of specific activities under the ‘Supporting Sustainable Inclusive Blue Economy Transformation in African Small Island Developing States’ (African SIDS) project. A grant of up to USD 639,000 will be made available to Mauritius under the initiative.

Led by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa, the Africa SIDS project is being implemented in six African SIDS, namely Mauritius, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles, with funding to the tune of USD 9 million from the Global Environment Fund.

Its aim is to foster integrated and cross-sectoral management of the Blue Economy by strengthening blue governance, enhancing the resilience of coastal communities, and supporting the conservation of coastal and marine ecosystem services.

Under the project, each participating country will be responsible for delivering a national demonstration project. In Mauritius, the project will focus on ‘Sustainable offshore fishing approaches and associated value-addition activities among local artisanal fishing communities’, promoting sustainable fishing practices and associated value-addition activities within the artisanal fisheries sector.

Source : GIS Mauritius