The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) has announced its decision that commercial fishing around the Chagos Archipelago will end October 31st in order to create the MPA, means that previously issued commercial fishing licenses – all of which are due to expire today – will not be renewed. The decision was based on the information given by the conservationists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) which highlight that the tens and thousands of sharks and rays caught as by-catch from over-exploitative commercial fishing in the area.
Huge numbers of sharks and rays have been legally caught as by-catch from commercial fisheries over the past five years in Chagos, something that will be prevented as a result of the fishing ban. The paper also draws together evidence that large-scale MPAs can have a positive effect on migratory species such as tuna. Until today, tuna was the main target of commercial fishing around the Chagos Archipelago.
According to conservationists this scientifically important MPA, which has the world’s cleanest sea water, can potentially be used as a comparative site to ailing reefs affected by human impact, climate change and rising sea temperatures. Dr Heather Koldeway, who manages ZSL’s international marine and freshwater conservation programme, expressed that the implementation of a no-take marine reserve in the Chagos will provide a highly unique scientific reference site of global importance for studies on both pelagic and benthic marine ecosystems and the effects of climate change on them.
Currently it is estimated that 1.17 per cent of the world’s ocean is under some form of marine protection, with only 0.08 per cent of these protected areas classified as no-take zones. Alistair Gammell, director of the Pew Environment Group’s Chagos campaign, said that the protection of the Chagos announced by the British Government will end the commercial fishing in the Chagos will help its marine wildlife to recover and thrive.
