Raphael Fishing Company Explained

Type:Public, multiple shareholders
Industry:Sustainable Line Fishing
Founded: in Port Louis, Mauritius
Hq Location:Port Louis, Mauritius
Hq Location City:Port Louis Praslin Street, Port Louis & Île Raphael
Hq Location Country:Mauritius.
Num Locations:13 islands
Area Served:Cargados Carajos Archipelago & Mauritius
Products:Fishing and Fisheries
Num Employees:40 -60

The Raphaël Fishing Company Ltd is a Mauritian fishing company incorporated on 7 July 1927 in Port Louis, Mauritius.[1] It is the second oldest commercial company in Mauritius, after Mauritius Commercial Bank (1828).

The company is a fisheries company which is notable under common law for having set legal precedent in the conversion of its -year old unlimited jouissance (permanent lease/999-year lease) into a permanent grant[2] by the UK Privy Council in 2008[3] giving it title[4] to thirteen islands known as The Thirteen Islands of St Brandon in the Indian Ocean on the isolated archipelago of the Cargados Carajos shoals.[5] [6]

Fishing operations

Raphael Fishing Company has resident fishermen and fishing stations on the Cargados Carajos shoals.[7] [8] The company provides support, victuals and infrastructure to sustain fishing and associated activities from fishing stations in St Brandon[9] and through offices in Port Louis.

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.[10]

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.[11] [12]

History and permanent grant

The company is named for a Captain Raphaël,[13] [14] who owned the lease to Île Raphael and had installations on the corner of rue des Pamplemousses and rue Fanfaron in Port Louis. Captain Raphaël travelled regularly to Île Raphael, St Brandon from Port Louis and, on 17 May 1816[15] and November 1817,[16] is on record as bringing back salted fish[17] [18] on a Lugger 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 UK Privy Council.

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,[19] the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council rendered its verdict[20] 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 [the 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".[21] [22] This effectively transferred ownership of the thirteen islands to the company.

These conditions were:[23]

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: . 30 July 2008 . The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v The State of Mauritius and Another (Mauritius) . 7 January 2023 . Vlex . Point 5 . English . Appeal No 54 of 2006.
  2. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v The State of Mauritius and Another (Mauritius) . 2023-01-20 . vLex . en.
  3. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008) ]. 2023-01-20 . www.saflii.org.
  4. Web site: dls . 2021-09-29 . The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v The State of Mauritius and Another: PC 30 Jul 2008 . 2023-01-20 . swarb.co.uk . en-US.
  5. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v The State of Mauritius and Another (Mauritius). vLex.
  6. Web site: 2008-07-31 . Le bail permanent de Raphaël Fishing confirmé sur St.-Brandon . 2023-01-23 . lexpress.mu . fr.
  7. Web site: 2019 . St Brandon: 11 – 21 Nov 2019 . 20 January 2023 .
  8. Web site: Saint Brandon . 20 January 2023 . but the Mauritian company Raphaël Fishing, which manages the fishing activities in the archipelago and owns two small lodges to the South and the North (...).
  9. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008) Privy Council Appeal No 54 of 2006 ]. 7 January 2023 . The St Brandon Archipelago lies about 250 miles north of the main island of Mauritius. It consists of five groups of islands or islets, 22 altogether, with an aggregate land area no greater than about half a square mile and prone to substantial submersion in severe weather. Their practical utility lies in the fishing around them on the very extensive shallow bank covering some 900 square miles around them:see the Surveyor General's Report to the Colonial Secretary dated 1st June 1863, para. 4<. Most of the islands were in use as fishing stations by the early 19th century, though these stations suffered disastrous inundations in 1812 and again 1818: see the Limuria Book Part 2 Chap. VII, p.188.
  10. Web site: The Fisheries Act . 13 January 2023 . Blue Economy . 34.
  11. Web site: Ship ALBATROSS (Fishing) Registered in Mauritius - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 0, MMSI 645476000, Call Sign 3B2164 . 2023-01-08 . MarineTraffic.com . en.
  12. Web site: Ship FREGATE (Fishing) Registered in Mauritius - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 0, MMSI 645475000, Call Sign 3B2163 . 2023-01-08 . MarineTraffic.com . en.
  13. Book: Jean-Marie Chelin . Histoire Maritime de L'ile Maurice . 9789994902316 . 142 . 30 August 1817 . (...) et Le Lougre, Le Cheriby, Capitaine Raphael pour St Brandon.
  14. Book: Jean-Marie Chelin . Histoire Maritime de l'Ile Maurice 1816 -1817 . 21 October 1817 . Imatech . port louis . 163 . French . 25 October 1817 . Le Lougre le Cheriby, Capitaine Raphael, parti de St Brandon avec une cargaison de poisson sale.
  15. Book: Chelin, Jean Marie . Histoire Maritime de L'Ile Maurice 1816 & 1817 Marine et Commerce . Jean Marie Chelin . 2016 . 9789994902316 . Tamarin . 17 May 1817 . 107 . Fr.
  16. Book: Chelin, Jean-Marie . Histoire Maritime de l'Ile Maurice 1816 et 1917 . Jean-Marie Chelin . 2016 . 9789994902316 . Mauritius . 169 . French.
  17. Book: Chelin, Jean Marie . Histoire Maritime de L'isle Maurice (1816 & 1817) Marine et Commerce . Jean Marie Chelin . 2016 . 9789994902316 . Tamarin, Mauritius . 174 . French . 1817 . Poisson salé de St. Brandon à 6 piastres la livre le cent. S'adresser chez Mr. Raphael, rue des Pamplemousses au coin de celle du Fanfaron.
  18. Web site: Rougaille poisson salé . 2023-01-18 . eBox . en.
  19. Web site: May 2018 . THE CONSTITUTION of the REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS . 23 January 2023 . Mauritius Parliament.
  20. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008) ]. 2023-01-20 . www.bailii.org.
  21. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008) ]. 2023-01-20 . www.saflii.org . LORD SCOTT OF FOSCOTE : 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 the appellant is the holder of a permanent grant of the islands mentioned in the 1901 Deed (transcribed in Vol TB25 No 342) subject to the conditions therein referred to; order the removal from the Register maintained by the Conservator of Mortgages in Mauritius of all relevant entries concerning the Deed of Sale transcribed in Vol 3131 No 52; and grant a perpetual injunction restraining M. Talbot, his agents, servants or employees from interfering with the appellant’s possession of the islands mentioned in the 1901 Deed. . 71.
  22. Web site: The Raphael Fishing Company Ltd v. The State of Mauritius & Anor (Mauritius) [2008] UKPC 43 (30 July 2008) ]. 2023-01-23 . www.bailii.org.
  23. Web site: Privy Council Appeal No 54 of 2006; JUDGMENT OF THE LORDS OF THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL Delivered the 30th July 2008. Paragraph 37. 2024-04-06. www.bailii.org.

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