Île Verronge

Île Verronge[1] is one of the twenty[2] or so Mascarene Islands that form part of the St Brandon Archipelago in the Indian Ocean also known as the Cargados Carajos shoals. It forms part of a group of outer islands of Mauritius. The exact number of isles varies on a seasonal basis, depending on storms and cyclones coupled with sea movements.

Flora, Fauna and landscapes from The Thirteen Islands of St. Brandon

Marine Protected Area of St Brandon

Île Verronge was one of the islands chosen by the World Bank to be part of the Marine Protected Area of St Brandon in its ''Management Plan for St. Brandon''.[3] In the Marine Protected Area chosen for St. Brandon by the World Bank and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency based on Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)/World Bank report, ''A Global Representative System of Marine Protected Areas''[4][5] and also approved by the OECD[6] the ''St. Brandon Marine Protected Area'' was divided into Four Groups of Islands:

  • Group 1 - The ''Guano Islands'' of St Brandon: Albatross Island, Nord Island, Sirene Island, Pearle Island and Fregate Island.
  • Group 2 - The ''Sooty Tern Islands'' of St. Brandon: Puits a Eau Island and Poulailler Island
  • Group 3 - The ''Islands of Human Habitation'' of St. Brandon: Ile Raphaël, Avocare, Ile Coco
  • Group 2 - The ''Small Islands and Sand Banks'' of St. Brandon: Ile Longue, Petite and Grande Dagorne, Capitaine and many others.

The Report was requested by the Government of Mauritius and the following Ministries:

  1. Ministry of Economic Development and Regional Cooperation
  2. Ministry of Cooperatives
  3. Fisheries and Marine Resources

The World Bank as their ''second most important'' recommendation advised the government to change from a fish quota system to an area-based system (as in the Great Barrier Reef) . ''Experience all over the world has demonstrated that area-based management whereby one user or co-operative has a long-term interest in the protection of the resources, has by far the best chance of success. (...) The [Marine Protected Area] model for St. Brandon has been the highly successful Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, whose management is based on a multiple use zoning plan.''[3]

Permanent grant

Île Verronge[7] is known for being one of the Thirteen Islands of St Brandon held under Permanent Lease (999-year lease) since 1901 and under Permanent Grant since 2008[8] by the Raphael Fishing Company.

Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll
  • Images of St. Brandon Atoll

Conservation

In the 1840s, the primary fishing station of St. Brandon was established on Île Verronge[9] which is today an uninhabited bird and turtle sanctuary within a Key Biodiversity Area of the Madagascar Key Biodiversity Hotspot.[10] A Raphael Fishing Company Bio security protocol exists to protect the island from Invasive Species.[11]

For bio security and Invasive Alien Species reasons, access to the public is restricted, and permission is required to onboard the island from the fishing company with established fishing stations on the islands. The Saint Brandon archipelago is important internationally for being a Key Biodiversity Area within a Key Biodiversity Hotspot boasting the longest continuous algal ridge in the Indian Ocean.

Cargados Carajos is a Hotspot within a Hotspot

Sustainable fishing

The thirty or so isles and islands and hundreds of flats within the crescent shaped lagoon around Île Verronge[12] draw specialised fishermen from across the globe to practise catch-and-release fly fishing and fly casting. The centenarian Raphael Fishing Company is the only company with its own fishing stations on the Archipelago of Cargados Carajos and carries out its fishing activities over the entire ‘banc’ (the archipelago) through:-

Raphael Fishing Company also provides support services and the necessary infrastructure for these fishing activities (fishing tenders, transportation of fishermen, fuel storage, outboard motors, spare parts, naval equipment, emergency equipment, accommodation in bungalows, water, food, electricity).

Molluscs of St Brandon

The Molluscs of the isolated St. Brandon islands are rare and the Archipelago is reported as being the only place where the spider shell Lambis violacea has been found (Robertson, 1974).

  • Turbo lorenzi
  • Tridacna lorenzi
  • Bistolida piae
  • Lambis violacea

See also

References
  1. "Verronge". geoview. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  2. "Verronge, Saint-Brandon, île de l'Océan Indien (ile-archipel.com)". Ile Archipel. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  3. Post (March 1998). "2. Recommendations". Management Plan for St. Brandon. The World Bank and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. p. 3.
  4. Kelleher, Graeme (1998). "A Global Representative System of Marine Protected Areas". The George Wright Forum. 15 (3): 17–24. ISSN 0732-4715.
  5. "A global representative system of marine protected areas". IUCN. 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  6. "Marine Protected Areas Policy Highlights (Marine Protected Areas Economics, Management and Effective Policy Mixes)" (PDF). OECD. 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "Verronge". Geonames. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  8. "The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008)". www.saflii.org. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  9. Edward, Belcher (1848). Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang during the years 1843- 1846 (Volume II ed.). King William Street London: Reeve Benham and Reeve. p. 326. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  10. "[St Brandon] is the most important KBA of the Republic of Mauritius in terms of marine biodiversity.pp 194". www.saflii.org. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  11. Evans, Sw; Cole, N; Kylin, H; Choong Kwet Yive, Ns; Tatayah, V; Merven, J; Bouwman, H (23 September 2016). "Protection of marine birds and turtles at St Brandon's Rock, Indian Ocean, requires conservation of the entire atoll". African Journal of Marine Science. 38 (3): 317–327. doi:10.2989/1814232X.2016.1198720. S2CID 88981698.
  12. "Île Veronge (Verronge) - Cargados Carajos Shoals, Location in Île Veronge, Cargados Carajos, Mauritius - Aloeus". Aloeus. Retrieved 26 December 2022.


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