L'ÃŽle Coco

L'ÃŽle Coco (Coco Island) is a Mascarene Island located in the Cargados Carajos shoals, a group of outer islands of Mauritius within an archipelago. L'ÃŽle Coco is one of the thirteen islands of the Cargados Carajos shoals held under Permanent Grant by the Raphael Fishing Company, which was incorporated in Port Louis, Mauritius on 7 July 1927. The island is one of the largest by size within the Saint Brandon Archipelago () and was permanently inhabited by fishermen until recently. It is still sometimes used as a base for Raphael Fishing Company fly fishing and fly casting activities. The island is inhabited by many thousands of sea birds and seasonally by turtles coming to lay their eggs.

Site description

The archipelago around L'Île Coco is spread over 300 ha on over 20 islets and many more sand banks and is greatly affected by tides. The Cargados Carajos shoals lie on a limestone plateau and sea depth seldom exceeds 20 metres. The crescent-shaped St Brandon reef itself covers around 19,000 ha, is 38 km long by 5 km wide. Islets such as L'Île Coco and sandbanks and cays are found on the western side; the largest of these on the West are Île Raphael, Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco and L'île du Sud. Raphael Fishing Company is the only company based on and with land rights to the archipelago. Raphael Fishing Company fishing settlements exist seasonally on Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco and L'île du Sud.

Bird and turtle biodiversity

The Cargados Carajos shoals host large numbers of seabirds. There have been many recommendations for the protection of the more important bird colonies (see UNEP/IUCN 1988) but, apart from Raphael Fishing Company privately funding the protection of its own island areas (e.g. ongoing eradication of IAS), nothing concrete has been achieved on the ground in St Brandon to date (). In 2010, a significant survey of seabirds and turtles of St Brandon was undertaken. "We estimated that 1.084.191 seabirds comprising seven breeding species and excluding non-breeders were present at the archipelago and we counted 279 turtle tracks and nesting pits of green turtles (''Chelonia mydas''). Hawksbill turtles (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') were also present. L'ÃŽle Coco is an active nesting site for the sea-turtles ''Chelonia mydas'' (EN) and ''Eretmochelys imbricata'' (CR).

Marine biodiversity

The islands of St. Brandon are isolated and continuous and ongoing scientific work has been scarce in identifying new marine species over the period 1900 - 2000. In May 2013, a new species of Labrid fish was discovered called the Novaculops alvheimi, the ''St. Brandon’s sandy.'' There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that many other species are yet to be discovered that would justify establishing a scientific base in St. Brandon. With increasing access to the islands over the last twenty years, new discoveries bear this out, ''A new species of the subgenus Aspilaturbo Williams, 2008 was found on the remote islands of Saint Brandon (Cargados Carajos Islands). This species is described here as new(...)..''.In 2021, a new species of Ophioglossolambis Dekkers was denominated Ophioglossolambis itsumiae.. The isolation of the isles of Saint Brandon has produced a high degree of endemism among marine species and presents significant potential for the discovery of other endemics within the Archipelago.

Other islands

The other twelve islands of St Brandon of note and with access to Raphael Fishing Company's infrastructure transport and accommodation for visiting fishermen are shown below. Together with L'ÃŽle Coco, they compose The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon which are offered ongoing protection from man-made environmental dangers and invasive species (IAS). Onboarding access to these islands is controlled by Raphael Fishing Company, which holds them under a Permanent Grant adjudged by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

Fishing activities

Raphael Fishing Company practises sustainable commercial hand line fishing using pirogues across the archipelago. Its thirteen islands also offer one of the most pristine and untouched locations in the world for catch-and-release fly fishing and fly casting. There are scattered islands, vast connecting sandbanks, flats of hard white sand and broken coral. There are flats covered in turtle grass. The atoll has excellent bonefishing. Bonefish are one of the feistiest fly and light tackle game fish. Bonefishing is a popular sport in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and southern Florida. Bonefish live in the shallow water of the archipelago and fishermen can wade for many kilometers to practise their craft. Bonefishing is a sport and the fish are released. Bonefish are notoriously skittish and great skill and poise is required to catch them. They are known as “grey ghosts." Other species are bluefin, golden, yellow dot and green spot trevally and the giant trevally which reaches weights above 30 kilograms.

Image gallery

Image:L'ÃŽle Coco Beach in Cargados Carajos Saint Brandon Mauritius, one of the Thirteen Islands of Raphael Fishing Company.jpg,
Image:L'ÃŽle Coco Beach Tournefortia argentea in Cargados Carajos Saint Brandon Mauritius, one of the Thirteen Islands of Raphael Fishing Company.jpg,
Image:L'ÃŽle Coco (Coco Island) St Brandon Cargados Carajos Vegetation.jpg,
Image:L'ÃŽle Coco - Fauna of St Brandon Cargados Carajos.jpg,
Image:Raphael Fishing Company Coco Island St. Brandon from the sea.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 01.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 02.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 03.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 04.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 05.jpg,
Image:The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon - Images of L'ÃŽle Coco, Cargados Carajos in Mauritius 06.jpg,

See also

*
* Casting (fishing)
* Fishing tournament
* Fly Casting Analyzer
* Joan Wulff

References

{{Reflist

Islands of St. Brandon
Mascarene Islands
Outer Islands of Mauritius
Reefs of the Indian Ocean
Fishing areas of the Indian Ocean
Insular ecology
Important Bird Areas of Mauritius
Flora of Mauritius
Atolls of the Indian Ocean
Biodiversity
Fly fishing
Fishing tournaments
Privy Council of the United Kingdom