Economic Development,Income Inequality and Environmental Degradation of Fisheries Resources in Mauritius

This article examines how environmental degradation of fisheries resources in the context of Mauritius is linked up with human investment in education, economic growth, and income inequality. Empirical evidence shows that public-sector investment in education promotes economic growth, but at the expense of greater inequality of income. Among the vulnerable groups affected by this type of development process lies the fisherman community. In fact, children of poor families in coastal Mauritius have constrained access to complete school education because of the persistently high opportunity cost involved. Hence, this community is caught up in a vicious circle, as its children or grandchildren would barely be redeployed elsewhere other than in the fisheries sector itself. Such exclusion might account for the overexploitation of marine resources of the island and the accompanying reduction in fish catch over recent years.*(Paper presented at the Third Research and Training Workshop of the Resource Accounting Network for Eastern and Southern Africa (RANESA), University of Pretoria (Funded by SIDA, Sweden), held in Mauritius, Nov 2000. I am grateful to the participants for their helpful suggestions. Needless to say, the usual disclaimer applies). Published online