St. Brandon

Saint Brandon, (French: 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 430 km (270 mi) northeast of the island of Mauritius. It consists of five island groups, with about 28-40 islands and islets in total, depending on seasonal storms and related sand movements.

The archipelago is low-lying and is prone to substantial submersion in severe weather but also by annual tropical cyclones in the Mascarene Islands. It has an aggregate land area estimated variously at 1.3 km² (0.50 sq mi) and 200 ha (500 acres). The islands have a small population of fishermen working for the resident fishing company, numbering 63 people in 2001. The bulk of this population, approximately 40 people, live on Île Raphael, with smaller settlements existing on Avocaré Island, L'Île Coco, and L'île du Sud.

In the early 19th century, most of the islands were used as fishing stations. Today, only one resident fishing company operates on the archipelago with three fishing stations and accommodation for fly fishermen on L'île du Sud and Île Raphael. A settlement on the isolated Albatross Island was abandoned in 1988.

Thirteen of the thirty islands were subject to a legal challenge from 1995 until 2008 between a certain Mr. Talbot acting with the government and the Raphael Fishing Company, this being resolved by Mauritius's Highest Court of Appeal in 2008 which converted the erstwhile Permanent Lease into a Permanent Grant for the resident fishing company.

As is common amongst small, remote islands, the fauna and flora display a high degree of endemism which attracts visitors and international conservationists because of the critical role these remote islands play in the conservation of endangered species. The endangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests here as does the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) which may be unique to the extent that they are eventually confirmed as being genetically different from those further north in the Chagos islands and the Seychelles. The islands, designated a Key Biodiversity Area under CEPF, are also instrumental in the preservation of the many bird species that are either vulnerable or near-threatened and were recommended as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) by the World Bank (1998). The World Bank’s Management Plan was accepted, with a few changes, at Mauritian Ministry level in its ”Blue Print for the Management of St. Brandon” in 2002 and thereafter approved by the Government of Mauritius in 2004.