The Raphaël Fishing Company Ltd is a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a melting pot of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious peoples. Mauritian is made up ...

fishing company incorporated on 7 July 1927 in

Port Louis Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...

, Mauritius. It is the second oldest commercial company in Mauritius, after

Mauritius Commercial Bank Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is a commercial bank in Mauritius. MCB is licensed by the Bank of Mauritius, the country's central bank and the nation's banking regulator. The bank's headquarters are located in Port Louis, Mauritius. Overview ...

(1828). The company is a

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

company which is notable under

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

for having set legal precedent in the conversion of its -year old unlimited

jouissance ''Jouissance'' () is a French language term implying "enjoyment"; the term jouissance connotes ''jouir'' 'to come' as in sexual parlance and has the meaning "orgasm" in french. In continental philosophy and psychoanalysis, ''jouissance'' is the ...

(permanent lease/

999-year lease A 999-year lease, under historic common law, is an essentially permanent lease of property. The lease locations are mainly in Britain, its former colonies, and the Commonwealth. A former colony, the Republic of Mauritius (''The Raphael Fishing Com ...

) into a

permanent grant A 999-year lease, under historic common law, is a permanent lease of property. Permanent lease locations are in Britain, its former colonies and the Commonwealth. A former colony, the Republic of Mauritius established a legal precedent through ...

by the

UK Privy Council The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former m ...

in 2008 giving it title to thirteen islands known as ''The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon'' in the Indian Ocean on the isolated

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of the Cargados Carajos shoals.

Fishing operations

Raphael Fishing Company has resident fishermen and fishing stations on the Cargados Carajos shoals. The company provides support, victuals and infrastructure to sustain fishing and associated activities from fishing stations in

St Brandon Saint Brandon (), also known as the Cargados Carajos Shoals, is a southwest Indian Ocean archipelago of sand banks, shoals and islets belonging to the Republic of Mauritius. It lies about northeast of the island of Mauritius. It consists of fiv ...

and through offices in

. Fishing operations are artisanal, being carried out by about forty fishermen in teams of two using hand lines in fibre glass pirogues. Nets are illegal in St Brandon. The company's primary ships in 2022 were MV Albatross and MV Fregate which were specially designed and commissioned in 2017 to transport fish, supplies and personnel between fishing stations in St. Brandon and Port Louis (a distance of approximately 469 km), where the fish is sold immediately upon arrival.

History and permanent grant

The company is named for a Captain Raphaël, who owned the lease to

Île Raphaël Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino ac ...

and had installations on the corner of rue des Pamplemousses and rue Fanfaron in Port Louis. Captain Raphaël travelled regularly to

Île Raphael Île Raphael is an island in the Saint Brandon archipelago, a group of 30 outer islands of Mauritius. The island is named after Veuve Raphaël. Veuve Raphaël's husband was a sea captain and had installations on the corner of rue (route) des ...

from

and, on 17 May 1816 and November 1817, is on record as bringing back

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish unt ...

on a

Lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively ...

called 'Le Cheriby'. In 1928, the Raphael Fishing Company Ltd., purchased the rights and interests of St Brandon Fish & Manure Co. Ltd., under the 11 October 1901 deed, after it had gone into liquidation, from Mr. Ulcoq who had bought them from the liquidator in 1925. The sale to M. Ulcoq and the subsequent sale to Raphael Fishing Co. Ltd., were duly approved by the state. On 11 August 1995, court proceedings were started by The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd., against a Mr Talbot who purported to own six islands and the Iles Boisées. The proceedings were against M. Talbot with the State of Mauritius as a co-defendant. On 30 May 2005, the legal proceedings by Raphael Fishing Company Ltd., appeared to have come to an unsuccessful end in Mauritian Courts which refused the Raphael Fishing Co. Ltd., leave to appeal to the

. On 27 July 2006, the UK Privy Council (which has the power to do this under the Mauritian Constitution) intervened to grant the Raphael Fishing Company Ltd., leave to appeal. On 30 July 2008, in keeping with the Constitution of Mauritius, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council rendered its verdict as follows: "For the reasons given in the above judgment the Board will allow this appeal, set aside the orders made in the courts below and declare that he Raphael Fishing Co. Ltd.,is the holder of a Permanent Grant of the islands mentioned in the 1901 Deed (...) subject to the conditions therein referred to". This effectively transferred ownership of the thirteen islands to the company. These conditions were: *The Company must export all the guano it finds and pay the Government a royalty of 5 rupees per ton of Guano exported. *The company, in addition, must pay the Government an annual sum of one rupee, *All the produce of the islands must be sent to Mauritius.

References

* * * * {{fisheries and fishing Fishing areas of the Indian Ocean Atolls of the Indian Ocean Companies of Mauritius

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Companies based in Port Louis Industry in Mauritius

Fishing operations

History and permanent grant

See also

References