Analysis of the Purse Seine Fishery of Mauritius, 1990 - 1994, and Comparison of Catch Rate and Species Composition of Catches of Mauritian Purse Seiners to Those of the French Fleet

Abstract

The catches made by purse seiners on schools associated with logs constitute more than half of the total catch of the purse-seine fishery of the western Indian Ocean. In the purse-seine fishery on log-associated schools of tuna, either natural logs are spotted by vessels and are marked with radio beacons, or artificial logs are set at sea to concentrate the tuna prior to fishing operations. The first attempt at commercial purse seining was successfully carried out in the Indian Ocean in 1979 by a joint-venture Mauritian vessel using the same technique as the Japanese, who had traditionally fished on schools associated with logs in the Pacific Ocean. They started fishing in the Indian Ocean after experimental purse-seine fishing was conducted by the Japan Marine Fishery Resource Centre (JAMARC) for the purpose of providing similar fishing patterns to those in the Pacific Ocean using artificial logs (payao, or raft).