§ Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken to develop the Indian Ocean fisheries off the Seychelles and Mauritius.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsTwo years' survey of these fisheries was completed at the end of last year. The final report will not be available for some months but the results obtained have been sufficiently encouraging to induce a Mauritius company to purchase two ex-corvettes in the United Kingdom for conversion into fishing vessels with refrigerating chambers. One of these has already been converted and is due to begin fishing in the area shortly.
In Mauritius a Fisheries Branch, under a Director of Fisheries is responsible for development projects and research. In Seychelles, the Government purchased a vessel last year for use in the fishing industry and it has now been fitted out for the purpose.