tssN1355-6746 Chugos|Yews ThePeriodical Newsletterof the Friends of the No.5 August 1995 EDITORIAL The Friends We giveto a Charity,willingly. Some we want a quality group of long term givemoney, some give time, some supportersinformed about the Chagos give expertise.Some give all ofthe and dedicatedto the successfulfuture above.When we startedwe madethe of thoseislands? Quality ratherthan subscriptionthe minimumpossible so quantitywith a contingencyplan to that no one who felt the Chagosare expandwhen Chagoscomes under worthprotecting would be excluded. threat?All of the above? What do we just two think? Pleasesend views on paper, The subscription covers 'phone Newslettersa year.It is a bare and/orcome to the AGM to minimum. Forhrnatelymany Friends discussover a pint ofbeer. gaveand give much more than f,5 a year.One Committee member put in Contents about!1,000 to getus off the ground. We haveseveral articles of interestin ThreeAmericans gave $500 between this issue.Andrew Emmondsof them.The BIOT Administrationgave MRAG has written us another us f300. SeveralFriends have chipped excellentarticle on fishingin the BIOT in with chequesfor f,25or moreand area.this time aboutthe Inshore morethan once. Several people give Fisheries.Alan Baldwin writesfrom more than the subscriptionevery year. New Zealandabout his Chagos This is ali excellentnews. Whatis bad experiences.We start a shorthistory news is that we spendfar too much which will be continued. Firstly, time andmoney reminding members of however,we haveajust received the annualsubscription. Please help by article from Nick Wraith the retirine sendingin Decemberarurual Britrepin DiegoGarcia. subscriptionsfor thefollowing year.

The Way Ahead. Finally... One of our Committee,a former Thenext News will be aboutthe 1996 CommissionerBIOT, has been looking ChagosExpedition which starts5 at futule strategy. Do we want to have Februarybut beforethen we hopeto a large membership of mildly and seeas many as possibleat the AGM on temporarily interestedpeople? Do we 3 October1995. want to be an old boys club whose numbersdiminish fast with age? Do John Topp OF BALLSAND BOOBIES....

By CommanderN J P Wraith JP Royal Navy

British RepresentativeDiego Garcia

No, not a newguide to DiegoGarcia (DG) but theclosing remarks of the outgoingCommanding Officer, Naly Computerand Telecommunications Station DiegoGarcia. Commander Robin BABB USN gaveher leaving speech and, as only a femalein today'sgender free world coulddo, told the audiencethat shehad been very waryofthe "King of the Isiand"(BRITREP !) becausehe kept asking her to seehis ballsand boobies.

I can report from the Islandthat everythingis in good shape.The natives remain friendly andthe environmentis improving ratherthan deteriorating. The past yearhas seen a processionof conservationists,environmentalists, animal lovers, cat andrat hatersand 'ologists too manyto enumerate.It is pieasingto notethat they all (includingJohn Topp !) left with goodwords for theway ourtropical paradise is beingmaintained.

My yearhas been varied to saythe least,interesting to put it mildiy and challengingto getto thepoint! JohnTopp gave me a brief beforeI left andat the end passedme a pieceof papercontaining some rather obscure questions. Most seemed outlandish,could neverhappen during my tenureand anywaythey would be recorded somewherein the dustyfiles thatthe Servicesand the Civil Serviceare always reluctantto destroy.Not so!

An exampleof the "out of the ordinary"was the MV LIA P in late August 1994,a Greekregistered vessel on herway from Brazilto Sri Lankawith a cargoof sugar.She was holed in the forepeak- theplates had just spiit apartdue to ageand poor maintenance- and was taking in water. For the next 6 weeksI had a view from my office windowof a very rusty,sugar leaking ship as we ( our US cousins,sorry) flew Greekdivers, engineers etc. to DG. Thecrew were on theverge of mutiny(they werenot 1etashore), the officershated the Captain,nobody had been paid for 3 monthsand the Captainwanted to fly home. Eventuallythe repair was completebut the Captainrefused to sail without a Surveyorscertificate. So we flew in a Surveyor- andsti1l the Captainrefused to sail.

Tragically at this stagethe GreekPort Captainwho had flown to DG to supervisethe repair had a coronaryand died. Thefamily wished to havethe body repatriatedfor burial in Greecebut it was quickly establishedthat Singaporewould not let the body tlrough without embalming. So we arrangedto fly two embalmers "embalming from Singaporeand were in thethroes of producinga makeshift table" when my ExecutiveOfficer rememberedthat therewere full mortuaryfacilities in the Contractorsphoto lab. Thejob complete,body, embalmers, Greek engineers, diver and Surveyordeparted DG andthree dayslater, witnessedby the incoming and outgoingBIOT Administratorswho werevisiting, the LIA P disappearedover the horizon. Lots of lessonsleamt (and recorded !) andwe continueto catchrather sweet tastingfish!

TheRestricted Area (Plantation) is onceagain chained off. Until earlyJune we hadallowed unlimited access so longas people purchased a onedollar day pass. Howeverthe areawas becominglittered, peoplewere lighting fires and chopping downtrees! Thearea is now openweekends and Public Holidays only andwe have seena markedimprovement in the way the areais treated.

During JohnTopp's visit in Januaryand February he had a work force clear the treesto the rearof the PlantationManager's House. This areanow looksmuch like it must havedone when the Plantationwas up andrunning. Two months ago,after a wait of four years,the Contractorfitted new windows to the PlantationChapel. These arethe samedesign as the originals.Subsequently the Mauritianand Filipino community,led by thethree Chaplains, have spent four Sundayswater blasting and spraypainting both the insideand outside of the chapel. Thefloor hasbeen reskimmed,tiles laid,the altararea refurbished and the surroundingarea landscaped. A re-constructionservice is dueto beheld on 16July.

The indigenouswildlife continuesto flourishunder the protection of numerousBIOT Ordinance- f500 fine for killing a CoconutCrab deters all but the stupid! Theregeneration ofthe CoconutCrab seems to havebeen very successful. Theycan now be foundon both sidesofthe islandand are especially numerous within the RestrictedArea. Boththe Greenand Hawksbill turtles continue to neston the oceanside of the island. TheHawksbill from my amateur"turtle watching', appears to nestseasonally between October to March,whilst the Greenturtle nests all year round. At TurtleCove anlthing up to 30 youngturtles can be seengrazing in the shallowwaters.

Anothersuccess story is theRed Footed Booby. JohnTopp tells me thatonly a few werenesting on the far tip, BartonPoint, during his tenure.They now nestas far downas Minni Minni on boththe lagoonand ocean sides and the population is in the thousands.

I hopethe foregoing gives you a flavourof life on DiegoGarcia, 1995 style. I leavein a few daystime havingbeen relieved by CommanderPaul Baker. I look forward to gettingto know my wife againbut wiil miss the manyfriends I havemade andthe beautyof DG.

Oh yes! Theballs were glass fishing floats found on thebeach - a greatrarity andthe Boobiesare the feathered tl'rre ! The InshoreFisheries

The inshorefisheries of the BritishIndian Ocean Territory (BIOT), have been administeredby the MarineResources Assessment Group, on behalfof the BIOT Administrationof the Foreignand CommonwealthOffice, from the time of the declarationof the FisheriesConservation and Management Zone in October1991.

BIOT encompassesthe Chagos Archipelago,centred at 6"5 72'E, on the southernmostpart of the Chagos-LaccadiveRidge. The Archipelago consists of five atollsand a numberof submergedbanks, the largestof whichis the GreatChagos Bank and all of whichare activelygrowing reefs. The islandsof PerosBanhos, Salomonsand DiegoGarcia were originally inhabited and were minor producers of saltfish, mainly from the demersalfishery (bottom dwelling species), although some handliningfor sharkand predatoryfish alsooccurred. In the early1970's the atolls wereevacuated, with the exception of DiegoGarcia which is nowa US.naval facility. Theseunpopulated islands and reefsare largelyundisturbed, and up to the time theyleft the localpeople had imposed a minimalimpact on the marineresources.

Theclimate is affectedby the prevailingwinds: from December to March,the wettest months,moderate winds are experiencedfrom the north-west,while from Juneto Septemberstrong south-east trade winds blow. The transitional periods of April-May and October-Novemberare periodsof lightvariable winds and frequent calms. The areais subjectto the SouthEquatorial Current, which flows westward during both of the majorwind seasons.

BIOTcontains the largestexpanse of undisturbedreefs in the IndianOcean, as well as some of the richest. About 200 sDeciesof scleractinancorals have been recorded. For corals,and molluscs,diversity may be higherthan any otheratoll groupin the IndianOcean. Despitethe remotenessof this atollgroup, diversity is not partrcularlyhigh for algae(115 taxonomic groups) and fish (702species). This lackof diversityin fish speciesis partlya resultof the limitedflat areaof the BIOT reefs,their remoteoceanic location and lack of obviousbottom sources of nutrients to drive primaryproductivity. This implies that the open oceanmust contribute significantlyto the productivityof the reef fish, and the oceanicwaters of BIOT appearto be similarlylow in primaryproductivity to othertropical open-ocean areas.

Similarlyfor fisheries,various information sources indicate that the Chagosare less productive,with lowerfisheries yields than similarlocations in the IndianOcean, Fishingin BIOTwaters, however, traditionally occurs in the SE TradeWind period and becauseof this catchrates are depressed.lf fishingwas to occurin another periodthen potentiallya higherfisheries productivity for these watersmight be indicated.

A number of estimatesof the area of fishablegrounds within the Chagos Archipelagohave been made, with that published by the UnitedNations Environment Programmeand InternationalUnion for the Conservationof Nature,at 21,000 square kilometres,being the greatest.Scientific assessments by MRAG have assumedfrom calculationsa fishingarea of 7,500 Kmz, and from information availablefrom the fisheryhave derived an estimateof the sustainableyield in the range1 ,260 - 1,650 tonnes per annum. Fishingin the inshorewaters of BIOTconsists of a recreationalfishery at Diego Garcia,by personnelstationed on the island,and at Salomonsand peros Banhos bv visitingyachts. This fishingoccurs inside and outsidelagoons and is non- commercial.

The commercialinshore fishery is prosecutedby a very smallnumber of licensed Mauritianmother ship vessels (about 4 in eachof the last4 years)together with their associateddories or catchingboats. They undertakethe 5-6 day journeyfrom Mauritiusin the periodfrom May to Septemberwhen poor climatic conditions, related to the South East Trade winds, limit fishingon banks nearerto port Louis. Refrigeratedmother ships equipped with blast-storage facilities capable of freezing up to ten tonnesof fish per day, deployup to twentydories, each crewedby a maximumof threefishermen using baited hooks and handlines.

Fishingis generallyundertaken in shallowwater (less than 50m deep) on the submergedbanks or reefssurrounding the atollsof the Archipelago,and targets demersalspecies of the familiesLutjanidae (snappers), Lethrinidae (groupers) and Serranidae(emperors). The vesselsoccasionally use trollingmethods to catch pelagic(free swimming) species when moving between demersal fishing sites. Light windsand moderateseas resulting in the lossof approximatelyone fishingday in 10-15are the normfor Chagosup to the end of July. The MauritianBanks fishery, centredprincipally on the banksof the MascareneRidge, has operatedsince the beginningof thiscentury, and data relating to the ChagosArchipelago as partof this fisheryis availablefrom 1977 .

Ciguatera,an illnesscaused by eatingfish which have an accumujationof toxinsin their flesh from ingestedmarine dinoflagellates (a type of marinealgae), and rendersaffected fish unsafeto eat,has beenreported to occurfrom fish caughtin BIOT watersin the literature.Recent studies by the AlbionFisheries Research Centre,and independentlyby fishingcompanies, however, have not found any affectedfish. Nevertheless, certain species and individualfish overa certainweight cannotbe landedor soldin Mauritiusdue to the greaterprobability of theircarrying thetoxin.

Theterms and conditions of licensingattached to a Blor inshorefishing licence are carefullyspecified to protectthe marineenvironment from the impactof fishing activities.Fishing may only be conductedby hook and line (includinghandline, trollingand bottomset longline)and by hand held cast nets for the purposeof catchingbait fish only. All othertypes of fishinggear are prohibited from use and the masterof the vessel mustensure that no fishingoperations are conductedinside the lagoonsof theatolls.

The Marine ResourcesAssessment Group conductsscientific research on the fisheriesin orderto be ableto providescientific advice to the Blor administrationfor the managementof the fishery.Data are derived from two sources,a BIOTinshore fishinglogbook which must be completedby all vesselsas part of the licensing agreementand records obtained from the placementof scientificobservers on some of thefishing vessels.

Analysesof logbookdata, indicatethat fishingduring the 1991 - 1994 fishing seasonsin BIOThas beenconcentrated in the ChagosArea of the GrandBank, particularlythe NorthChagos Bank and Nelsonlsland, while outsidethis Bank fishingoccurred at PerosBanhos and SpeakersBank. Largevariations in catches, effort and catch rates betweenvessels and for the same vesselsin differentvears have been observed.These could be causedby the fact that the fishingcrews employedduring operations over differentfishing seasons are not the same, rangeof skill and experienceof individualfishermen on a particulartrip can vary considerably,and this is likelyto havea significanteffect on the typeand volume of fishcaught, and the effort expended by the vessels.

Catchrates observed in the Chagosarea are approximately46 Kg per man day, and are at the lowerend of the rangeobserved for the shallowwaters of the Seychelles (46-175Kg/man day), even when the use of electricfishing reels in the Seychelles are taken into account(increasing the catch per unit effort by approximately20- 30%). This value is also less than those reportedfor the Saya de Mahla and NazarethBanks exploited by Mauritius,indicating as notedbefore that the Chagos reefsmay be less productive.

Presentcatches are well belowthe estimatedsustainable yield for the Archipelago and fisheriesmanagement policy is directedto restrictfishing effort in linewith the principalconcern of the BIOT Administrationin the managementof the inshore fisheries,which is the conservationof the delicatemarine ecosystem of the Chagos Archipelago.

AndrewEmmonds

Expeditionsto Chagos197215

by

CommanderAlan Baldwin OBE

I mustbe the onlyperson, or oneof veryfew, who can claim to have visitedChagos, all the islandsof Chagosincluding Blenheim Reef, repeatedly - but neverto havevisited Diego Garcia.

Thiscame about by my involvementin twojoint service expeditions, eachof two anda halfmonths duration, firstly in 1972and then in 1975. I was DeputyLeader and DivingOfficer in 1972and the Leaderand Diving Officerin 1975.There were specific military aims such as surveyingfor the teamsbut in bothexpeditions the emphasis was on diving.A smallbut distinguishedscientific team participated in bothventures and both service andcivilian team members worked happily together collecting and sorting coralsamples, surveying the islandsand recording the plant,bird and insect life. In 1975a BBCteam joined us to makea filmin theWorld About Us sefles.

Ourvisits to the islandshold so manymemories. I willnever forget on Egmonthow our ornithologist Mont Hirons longed for a platformbuilt from whichto film,for thefirst time, the incubationand hatching of the eggof a pair of fairyterns. Thestructure rose higher and higher into the sky,under the directionof MajorDon Phillips, until the lasttree was cut to providethe final brace- the lasttree on whichthe fairy terns had laid their precious egg! And anothertime when we setfoot on PerosBanhos to findand read the last messagesfrom the residentswho were removed and transhipped to Mauritius.And the longnight when, led by DaveBellamy, we floundered aboutthe barachoison lsleSudest, Egmont, in pursuitof a rareaxolotl which in the endturned into a rathercommon eel. And in 1975our support yacht, the ketchFour Friends with Warren Blake as skipper,under the exhortations of PeterCraMord, BBC producer, to sailcloser and closer, ran aground on an ebbtide - FourFriends that beloved ship now sadly lying at the bottomnear a coralreef off Borneo.And those dives amid over 50 sharksin 'sharkalley' at the southend of Egmont- allfor a few bitsof coral.And the pantomimeon EgmontChristmas 1972. And the giant hammerhead....And..

Anyonevisiting Chagos, the mysteriousisles to the Maldivians,is neverthe sameagain. lt changedall ourlives. Twenty years after I lastsaw Eaglelsland and Chagos from the deck of RFAResurgent, with Four Friends in the foreground,I can recall the scenewith crystal clarity. What is it about the Chagosthat has such an impact?lt is, I believe,the uttersolitude of theseunbelievablv beautiful islands.

Brief Historyofthe ChagosArchipelago

Part1 - Discovery

Until thebeginning of the 16thcentury the islands ofChagos lay undiscoveredby the Europeanworld. If the seafaringMalays or Arabsfound them before then, they 1eft no record. Thefirst recordedsighting probably came from a Portuguesesailor named PedroMascarenhas in 1512,at a time whenhis countrywas trying to openup trade routesaround the Capeto the Indies.Thereafter several of its differentislands were seen.but theywere not usedexcept, perhaps, as landmarks by lost captainswell away from their normalroute close to thecoast of Africa with its lucrativeplaces oftrade.

TheDutch and the Englishwere as interested as the Portuguesein the Indiestrade, andestablished similar trade routes. At thattime the Portuguesewere a powerfui seafaringnation who forcedothers to sailEast away from Africa, sothat by the early 17thcentury many were sailing from theCape more directly to India,across the centralIndian Ocean. This wasquite uncharted territory. Its perilsto seafarerswere illustratedby a voyageof Sir JamesLancaster who in i 602was on his wayto India whenhe wasstartled to find himselfin only 5 fathomsof water. He tumedabout to avoidshoals but foundhimself trapped in a mazeof reefsinterspersed with deep channels.His shipswandered about for days"in exceedingdanger and could find no way to getout" until theyfinally escapedby foliowinga northwarddeep channel. The shipshad been trapped by the GreatChagos Bank, entering it overits northemedge not f-arfrom the ThreeBrothers. Lancaster's account was widely circulatedand did a lot to causedeep mistrust and fear ofthese waters later on.

I In the late 17th centuryit wasthe tum of the Frenchto expandEast, and by using Reunionand then Mauritius they almostcontrolled the African route to India. It was becomingapparent that while the direct route from Mauritius missedthe richesof Africa, it alsomissed its armedopposition.

By this time severalcharts were availableof the West and Cenhal Indian Ocean,but early navigatorshad drawn a complexand conflicting anay of islandsand shoals. Thesewere vastly out ofscale, showingenormous hazards cramped in a seaalmost too small to hold them. The awesomeappearance of this Archipelago,and the fact that getting lost in thosedays was a commonenough event, led to very exaggerated fearsof navigatingthrough it. Marinersdeveloped an insuperabledread of this allegedlyreef strewnocean and some,particularly the Frenchwould sail long distancesdue Eastfrom Mauritius beforetuming North, to avoid it.

Towardsthe middleofthe 18thcenhry the necessityfor goodcharts grew with increasingtrade, and the Frenchdecided to chartthe areamore accurately.In 1742 a pair of shipsdeparted into the Archipelagofor this purposebut they found almostno islands. They did howeverfind onenew island whereChagos was believedto be, and placedit at a spot nearthe ThreeBrothers. Unfortunately,even allowing that the navigationalaids ofthe day werepoor, one of the Captainswas not thoughtto be particularly competentas is shownby his retum when,nearilg what he thoughtwas Rodriguez,he hit thecoast of Madagascar.This placedhis estimatedposition 900 miles out at the end with doubtlessa substantialenor throughmost of the preceding voyageas well, puttingthe locationofhis new Chagosisland very muchil question. The govemor of Mauritius suspectedhis Captain'serror and concludingthat the island was nearthe Amirantes,sent a much superiornavigator out 2 yearslater to checkit. This expert duly aimedNorthwest to meetit but managedto go Northeastinstead until, rising one dawn,he found his ship surroundedby the 22 islandsof Peros Banhos. His ship, the Elizabethgave her nameto the Channelhe miraculously enteredby. Tuming abouthe sailedWest still in pursuit of the unknown island. He found it eventuallyand it was namedMahe, in the Seychelles.This kind of navigationalinaccuracy explained also how it was possiblefor a while to conf:se the ThreeBrothers ofChagos with the SevenBrothers (or Sisters)1,200 miles to the West. A secondconfusion between Chagos and the Seychellesoccurred in 1755 whentwo Englishships reported seeing Diego Garcia at a positionwhich placed it in the Seychelles.This is all themore surprising when it is rememberedthat all Chagos islandsare flat and low lying ,while the Seychellesare mountainous and volcanic. to becontinued

"ChagosNews" is a private newsletterproduced in Englandby Friendsofthe Chagos,Registered Charity Number 103 156 1 . The views expressedare those of individual conhibutorsand arenot thoseofthe Chariwor theEditor.