The Economic Mission Statement emphasizes one key point : to meet the development challenges facing Mauritius, strategies must include a maritime or oceanic dimension. May we coin it “Land Based Oceanic Industry” or “Blue Economy”, a comprehensive maritime strategy, if well thought through, can enable communities, states and our sub-regions to fully utilize maritime domain resources to achieve sustainable development. However, one must not be naïve : it is equally critical to assess the various security threats emanating from the maritime domain – and we are not only talking about piracy...This paper, based on research done with maritime experts, is a humble attempt to inform the process of maritime strategy development by laying out its various stages.

As we all know, the maritime domain is one of evolving geostrategic importance.

In today’s world, maritime threats are complex and impact a variety of stakeholders. These threats include illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing (sea turtles and sharks); resource theft (‘bois de rose’), including oil bunkering; trafficking of both humans and goods, including arms and narcotics; illegal immigration; piracy and insecurity of navigation routes; money laundering; climate change and coastal erosion; and environmental degradation, which includes reckless and destructive fishing practices, illegal dumping (including toxic waste), pollution, and oil and chemical spills, among others.

Beyond these tangible threats, there are also challenges of state capacity. Generally, governments in our sub-region lack workable contingency plans for addressing maritime threats. This institutional weakness is further compounded by structural challenges of political instability (Madagascar and Comoros), food insecurity, and corruption. Though these issues may seem removed from the immediate maritime domain, they have very real and tangible effects on maritime safety and security and the capacity to devise practicable maritime strategies.

In addition to these direct maritime threats and institutional challenges that undermine response capabilities, there are other challenges that must be accounted for: chronic under-surveillance by states of their territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs); the inability of many states to equip and sustain a capable maritime force; international obligations like maritime safety and search and rescue capabilities; poor coordination and communication between stakeholders in the maritime domain; and lack of political will in governments to prioritize and commit resources to this undertaking, which competes for scarce resources with other national and regional priorities.

The threats and challenges listed above, both operational and institutional, are numerous, yet not exhaustive. Such complexity must be thoroughly assessed and understood in order to devise comprehensive and workable strategies to address maritime threats and challenges. It is critical that threat assessments at the national and regional level must be prioritized in order to inform strategies that, by necessity, must be collaborative.

On paper, the Blue Economy sounds like a great idea. But for this idea to achieve success, we need a clear Risk Assessment which is a critical piece of any maritime strategy development. Only this Risk Assessment can compare the gap between the chosen aims and objectives, with the risks and sacrifices needed to achieve them.