The volcanic island of Mayotte (374 km super(2)) is part of the Comoros Archipelago, which is situated on the North of Mozambic's Canal (Indian Ocean). Mayotte is composed of two islands and some thirty small islands distributed in a lagoon of more than 1,000 km super(2). Being one of the French Republic's Territorial Collectivity, this island is characterized by a very fast demographic evolution (growth rate : 5.8 %), which constitutes the foundation of the development problematic. Most of local halieutic production comes from the reef (nearly 2,000 t in 1999), the technic of "palangrotte" (deep line) is still dominating. The fishing fleet is composed of monoxyl pirogues and polyester fishing boats for the 1,200 fishermen. The first FADs (Fish Aggregating... |