We evaluated the status of anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) in two natural mangrove forests on Mauritius, one of which in proximity to human settlement (Mahebourg) and the other more remote (Ferney). AMD was collected monthly from October to December 2018 in 1500 m² at both sites and classified into material composition and their potential sources. In all, 2127 items (150.07 kg) was sampled at Mahebourg and 1098 items (43.71 kg) at Ferney. In line with global studies, plastic made up most of the debris in terms of both count (42.92%, 43.66%) and total weight (40.65%, 32.08%) at Mahebourg and Ferney respectively. Most debris originated from shoreline and recreational activities. This work sets a baseline to assess impacts of AMD on mangroves, public awareness required and future strategies for waste monitoring and management in mangroves that may be applied both locally and on other small islands.

Marine litter is a major global concern that is threatening marine ecosystems. This study assessed the meso-litter and microplastics density around Mauritius Island, South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region. WIOMSA guidelines were used for meso-litter and microplastics sampling from October to December 2019 at 12 sites. A total of 1095 meso-litter items (weighing 1250 g) was sampled. Plastics were the most abundant litter category. ‘Shoreline and recreational activities’ were the main meso-litter source. Microplastics density was highest at the vegetation line (VL) zone. Fragments, mostly blue-coloured, were the most encountered type of microplastics, and polyethylene was the most prevalent polymer type. This study provides important baseline data which can be used by relevant authorities for more effective waste management strategies and awareness campaigns that will help further mitigate the marine litter problem in Mauritius, and to check the effectiveness of management measures in place.

This study aims at assessing the fate of MV Wakashio oil spill, and the driving forces responsible for possible environmental consequences of polluted coastal region. GNOME simulations were performed, considering various meteo-oceanographic forcings such as (i) winds and currents, (ii) only winds, and (iii) only winds with different diffusion coefficients, and validated with the satellite images. The results revealed that the simulations performed with ‘only winds’ reasonably match with the satellite observations, indicating that winds are the primary driving forces. The conducive stokes drift is an added contribution to the predominant northwestward drift of the spill. The oil budget analysis suggests that beaching and evaporation together accounted for a significant portion of the spilled oil (1000 tons), in which ~60% of the oil was accounted only for beaching. Our results depict that the diffusion coefficient of 100,000 cm²/s and 3% windages are optimal for oil-spill simulations off the southeastern Mauritius coast.

This study explores methods to estimate minimum drift times of ghost nets found in the Maldives with the aim of identifying a putative origin. We highlight that percentage cover of biofouling organisms and capitulum length of Lepas anatifera are two methods that provide these estimates. Eight ghost nets were collected in the Maldives and estimated drift times ranged between 7.5 and 101 days. Additionally, Lagrangian simulations identified drift trajectories of 326 historical ghost nets records. Purse seine fisheries (associated with Korea, Mauritius, the Philippines, Spain, France and Seychelles) and gill nets from Sri Lanka were identified as 'high risk' fisheries with regard to likley origins of ghost nets drifting into the Maldives. These fisheries are active in areas where dense particle clusters occured (drift trajectories between 30 and 120 days). Interestingly, ghost nets drifting less than 30 days however, remained inside the exclusive economic zone of the Maldivian archipelago highlighting potential illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity is occuring in this area. This study therefore points to the urgent need for gear loss reporting to be undertaken, especially by purse seine and gill net fisheries in order to ascertain the source of this major threat to marine life. This should also be coupled with an improvment in the data focused on spatial distribution of the abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear originating from both large- and small-scale fisheries.

Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oils (VSLFO, <0.5% S) are a new class of marine fuel oils, introduced to meet recent International Maritime Organization regulations. The MV Wakashio was reported to have released 1000 t of VLSFO when it grounded on a reef in Mauritius on 25th July 2020. A field sample of oily residue contaminating the Mauritian coast was collected on 16th August 2020 and compared with the Wakashio fuel oil. Both oils were analyzed for organic and elemental content, and stable isotope ratios δ¹³C and δ²H measured. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry was used to identify and compare biomarkers resistant to weathering. The aromatic content in the VLSFO was relatively low suggesting that the potential for ecosystem harm arising from exposure to toxic components may be less than with traditional fuel oil spills. The Wakashio oil spill is, to our knowledge, the first documented spill involving VLSFO.

Industries on the island of Mauritius are under increasing pressure from the regulatory authority and from the general public to control the air pollution from their boilers and particularly that of sulfur dioxide emissions from fuel oil combustion. The measures taken by industry are usually “ad hoc” in nature, and there has been yet no proper scientific methodology to justify the nature of the pollution control interventions. Air modeling as a planning tool provides a scientific methodology to industries and to the regulatory authority to select the optimum option(s) among various scenarios such as raising stack heights, changing fuels, implementing cleaner production opportunities or installation of wet scrubbers. The aim of this project was to use an air dispersion model for the selection of air pollution control systems for industrial boilers in an industrial estate. Given a number of constraints on small island developing states like Mauritius, it is recommended to start using established and simple modeling methods, as the complexity of the more refined models requires a relatively long learning curve to be able to use the model correctly. The Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST3) is recommended for that purpose. The application of the ISCST3 model to the multiple-source case study helped in the identification of the most cost-effective options.

This paper seeks to answer an empirical question of whether clean biomass energy consumption lowers CO₂ emissions while controlling for technical innovation in eight selected countries from Africa for the 1980–2015 period. The countries which are chosen based on availability of data on biomass energy and technological innovation include Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zambia. Applying pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect panel estimators, the results indicate that clean biomass energy use decreases CO₂ emission in the long run. But the effect of biomass energy consumption on CO₂ emission is insignificant in the short run. The findings imply that CO₂ emission can be reduced by increasing clean biomass energy in the energy mix of these countries. Similarly, environmental quality and economic growth can be achieved simultaneously by increasing the share of biomass energy in large-scale production process. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between CO₂ emission and economic growth, was validated in the long run. This suggests that the EKC pattern is only observed in the long run. Thus, as part of recommendation from this study, policy makers in these countries should formulate more policies that will enhance clean biomass energy production and its usage to substitute significant percentage of fossil fuel use in production process.