Professor Sala, researcher in residence and executive director of National Geographic Pristine Seas, said: “Based on the aggressive and aggressive behavior of tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean by EU vessels, everyone can suspect that EU industrial fishermen also want to exploit the waters of the Chagos with destructive power.
“Opening the Chagos to commercial fishing would not only be a policy change or promote the development of Mauritius, but would instead destroy the lifeboat that the Indian Ocean so desperately needs to survive in warmer climates.”
He described the Chagossian waters as a “fish bank” of the world that allows tuna populations to recover and replenish products throughout the vast Indian Ocean.
“Opening a protected area for commercial fishing will rob the sea of a rare treasure built up over thousands of years,” he said.
An environmentalist has reported evidence that some Spanish and French vessels have entered Chagos waters despite the no-fishing ban.
According to the Blue Marine Foundation, in 2017, Spain recorded 12.2 hours of fishing in Chagos waters and it seems that there is nothing. France reported 85 hours of fishing on the island in 2017 and 2018, without “clear explanation”.
Mauritius has expressed its willingness to open the Chagos archipelago to different fishing methods once the treaty is concluded.
Last year in November the island nation announced its own version of the MPA.
Mauritius can open up 96 percent of that area
As the Policy Exchange paper noted, this version would open up 96 percent of the currently protected area to fishing, which the paper called “a serious drop from the status quo”.
Its authors warned that “traditional” fishing, allowed under Mauritius’ version of the Chagos MPA, is a term known to “cover many sins, including commercial fishing disguised as “traditional”.
Mauritius has long opposed the British MPA. In a successful legal challenge in 2015, it argued that the fishing ban was illegal, but the court stopped short of overturning it while Britain retained sovereignty over the area.
Policy Exchange warned that Mauritius “does not have any obligation” to maintain the MPA under the British treaty signed in May last year and has a “disappointing record” in terms of marine protection.
Yuan Yi Zhu, author of the report and senior fellow at Policy Exchange, said the EU report “only confirms the dire consequences that could result from the environmental agreement if the transfer of Chagos to the Republic of Mauritius continues”.
Richard Ekins KC, head of the tank’s Judiciary Project, said: “The prospect of EU fishing boats landing in the pristine waters of the Chagos Islands should get the blood of anyone who cares about the environment pumping.
“As Policy Exchange has repeatedly warned, the UK is on the verge of handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius without any reasonable guarantee for environmental protection and has no power to prevent the neglect or abuse of Mauritius.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Chagos Marine Protected Area is one of the world’s most important marine ecosystems, and the UK and Mauritius are committed to protecting it.
“We welcome the announcement from the government of Mauritius on November 3 that no commercial fishing will be allowed in any part of the Marine Protected Area.”
A European Commission official refused to answer direct questions from The Telegraph about concerns about EU fishing ambitions in Britain’s protected Chagos waters.
They added that the EU has paid for the right to fish in the waters of its partner countries and said that its fishing practices are ethical.
#plans #Chagos #fishing #rights #Starmer #surrenders