Seine fishing season announced in Mauritius from September 1 to 30

Some 500 fishermen, including 10 from Rodrigues will regroup themselves in the coastal regions.

The event is organised through 18 fishing organisations and 15 cooperatives from the Mauritius Fishermen Cooperative Federation (MFCF).

Several persons and shipping vessels will also participate. They will choose between 250 m and 500 m nets according to the techniques used. Mauritians are invited to learn more of the old fishing method.

Patrick Fortuno, president of the administrative council of MFCF, described the fishing technique as very old and said it dated back to slavery.

He said, “The technique dates back to slavery as slaves turned to the sea as a means of survival.”

Fortuno also added after the abolition of slavery, fishing continued and that is when the fishing trade started
aining popularity in Mauritius.

The seine fishing is a technique which consists of long flat nets like a fence that are used to encircle a school of fish, with the boat driving around in circular motion.

The fishing net is large, hangs in the water due to weights along the bottom edge and floats along the top.

A rope passes through all the rings, and when pulled, draws the rings close to one another, preventing the fish from ‘sounding’, or swimming down to escape the net.

This operation is similar to a traditional style purse, which has a drawstring.

Seine fishing was commonly used by Egyptians to catch large volumes of fish quickly.

The purse seine is a preferred technique for capturing fish species which school or aggregate close to the surface: such as sardines, mackerel, anchovies, herring, certain species of tuna (schooling) and salmon, soon before they swim up rivers and streams to spawn (aggregation). Boats equipped with seines are called seiners.