Rodrigues mini-series part 2: Ourit

The lagoon surrounding Rodrigues is twice the size of the island itself, which explains why fishing is such an important part of the economy. On the picture below you can see the white line of waves breaking on the reef, and the clear colour difference between the lagoon and the open sea. The zig zag is a pass where the fishing boats travel in and out of the lagoon.

It's not all about the fish though; the main catch to be had in the shallow lagoon water is "ourit" or octopus. It's estimated that there are around 500 professional octopus fishermen, and 2500 more who rely on octopus fishing to feed their families. 

To catch an octopus, you need to go out at low tide looking for clues as to where they might be hiding. They are apparently clean and tidy creatures, but the piles of empty crab shells they leave outside their holes are usually what gives them away and leads to them being speared on the end of a big metal stick.

Fishing for octopus is a job carried out mainly by women. It's tiring and not very well paid, but those who do it professionally are subsidised by the government on days when they can't work due to bad weather. This means that more and more people are starting to fish, and is having a negative effect on lagoon life. The octopus population is decreasing rapidly, and the huge numbers of people out in the lagoon at low tide are destroying the coral and harming the fish. In order to fight this and protect the environment, the Regional Assembly decided to ban octopus hunting for two months of each year. Unfortunately, that happened to coincide with our visit:

In this great example of Rodrigues Kréol, you can see that fishing (lapes, like la pêche in French) of octopus is closed between 10th August and 10th October. Anyone caught with an octopus of more than 5kg without a permit can receive a fine of 2,000-3,000 rupees (£40-£60) for a first offence, and 10,000 rupees and up to 2 years in prison if you're caught more than once. During the two months where they're not allowed to fish, the Regional Assembly pays all the professional fishermen to work on the land, planting forests and reintroducing endemic trees and plants.

The image on almost every postcard from Rodrigues shows octopuses drying in the sun on a kind of wooden washing line. Since we were there at the wrong time, I didn't get any photos of those, but I found this one online from Le Mauricien newspaper:

 We may not have seen any octopuses, but I did get photos of fish and sausages:

Empty octopus line

Sausages

Fish

I've never been that adventurous when it comes to food, mainly because I don't like things with strange textures. Since I moved to Mauritius though, I've made it my aim to try everything offered to me, so although the idea of eating octopus didn't really appeal, I didn't feel I could refuse. It is the regional speciality after all. 

The first time I tried it was in a restaurant where the waitress was most apologetic that it had been frozen and wasn't fresh from the lagoon.

It was served in a big clam shell with a vinaigrette. As I wasn't sure I'd like it, and one of our friends wasn't keen either, we got one between four. It wasn't enough - it was so tasty that I could have eaten the whole thing myself! We later had it when we went to see some friends, and they put out two large bowls, one of which Arno (the friend who wasn't keen) and I finished between us!

We learned that the secret to preventing your octopus from being rubbery in texture is to put it in a pressure cooker without any water, as boiling it is what makes it so chewy. It can be served in all kinds of dishes; curries, stew type sauces, salad, and in a spicy condiment called achard. You can buy it in the supermarket in Mauritius, but I'm not sure it would taste the same if I made it at home!