The fisheries of Seychelles

The fisheries of Seychelles

Introduction

Seychelles' commercial fishing industry has seen dramatic development since 1986 and is poised to challenge tourism as the nation's largest revenue earner by the end of the century. Seychelles is at the center of the Indian Ocean tuna fisheries. Fishing Port, in the eastern section of the capital city, Victoria, is the most important tuna landing and transshipment port in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Foreign fleets from France, Spain, the U.S.S.R., Mauritania, and other countries fish for tuna in Seychelles' bountiful waters. The domestic artisanal fleet fills the domestic demand for fish supplies, and provides some export earnings.

But, while Seychelles earns $7 million in licensing fees and transshipment charges, it earns only $2 million from artisanal fishery exports. This amount could be greatly increased with the introduction of a national tuna purse seiner fleet. However, the government finds it difficult to attract young people to the fishing profession despite good income and various incentive programs. The government of the Seychelles is aggressively trying to develop the fisheries sector, including port facilities, infrastructure, processing facilities, and a national commercial tuna fleet. Much of Seychelles fishery development is financed by bilateral and multilateral foreign aid.

The Seychelles, a group of 90 tiny islands scattered over a vast area of the Western Indian Ocean gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1976. The country was basically a one-industry nation until French fishery research vessels started surveying nearby ocean waters in 1980. Tourism was, and remains the most important industry in this beautiful tropical island country, but fishing, especially the tuna fishery, is challenging tourism as the major foreign exchange earner. Victoria, the capital located on Mahe Island, has become a strategic base for tuna fisheries.

The Seychelles islanders are probably the world's greatest consumers of fish per capita at 90 kilos per person each year. The fishing industry directly employs over 1,400 people, 85 percent of them full-time. However, the fisheries sector is controlled by the government, primarily through the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) and the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB). The government's basic objectives for the fishing industry are to satisfy domestic fisheries consumption, increase fishery exports, obtain additional revenue from foreign fleets operating in Seychelles waters through licensing fees and port services, and develop its own commercial fishing capabilities.

Fishing Grounds

An oasis in the vast Western Indian Ocean, the Republic of the Seychelles lies astride an important tuna migration route. In 1978, the Seychelles declared a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1 million square kilometers, encompassing the world's richest tuna grounds, to protect its resources from far-ranging deep-sea fishing fleets from Japan, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and the Soviet Union. The Seychelles' 200-mile EEZ extension truncated part of Mauritius' traditional fishing grounds, but the two countries have worked together to coordinate their fishing regulations. The Government of Seychelles is trying to establish a deep-sea fishing industry based in Fishing Port, a section of the capital, Victoria, and needed to establish authority over its grounds. The only waystation within hundreds of miles, the Seychelles has become an important site for provisions, repairs of vessels, and transshipment of fishery products landed by foreign tuna fleets.

Early in the 1980's, tuna stocks were discovered off the Seychelles. The French tuna industry sent a purse-seiner, the Ile de sein, on a 3-month survey, with encouraging results. A 7-month French expedition, begun in December 1981, also had positive findings. At the end of 1982, four vessels previously based at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, started commercial fishing on a trial basis. By the end of 1984, there were 48 French and Spanish tuna vessels fishing in Seychelles waters. Within two years the tuna industry had turned Seychelles' EEZ into a fisheries bonanza, coming in a close second to tourism as a foreign exchange earner.

The main tuna fishing grounds have been east of the Seychelles. However, in 1986 new fishing grounds were discovered. It seems that the tuna move clockwise around the archipelago, converging on Mahe, the largest island. New grounds to the northwest of the islands show promise, depending on the type of fishing practiced. Grounds to the north also abound in tuna at certain times of the year.

The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) decreed that foreign fishing will not be permitted closer than 60 miles from the Seychelles' coast, the approximate extent of the shallow continental shelf. This area is reserved for Seychelles fishermen, who rarely fish in deep waters beyond 60 miles.

Government Administration

The Ministry of National Development, which had oversight and operational responsibility for the fishing industry and the various components which comprise the sector, was abolished in June 1989. In the reorganization, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing was created. Although it is not yet clear how Seychelles' fishing activities will be administered in the future, the two dominant organizations will continue to be the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB). Several other government units are peripherally involved: The Department of Defense assists the SFA in surveillance and control of the EEZ, the Seychelles Development Bank provides the loans for private fishermen, and other government parastatal companies provide handling and maintenance service for the fishing vessels.

The Seychelles Fishing Authority was incorporated in August 1984 by the Seychelles Fishing Authority Establishment Act. The Authority was formed because of the need to develop the fishing industry to its fullest potential. It is a parastatal organization with autonomous legal and financial status, supervised by a Board of Directors appointed by the President. The SFA has responsibility for policy implementation and is charged with assessment and management of fishery resources, regulating all fishing activity, coordination and support of fishing cooperatives and owner-operators, management of ports, development of gear technology, coordination of manpower training, undertaking research, assisting in negotiations with foreign fishing fleets, and coordinating with other agencies with related activities in the fishing area. The SFA is divided into two divisions: Resources and Administration. The SFA is unusual in having multiple functions as a management, planning, development, scientific, and training organization.

The Seychelles Marketing Board controls the local artisanal catch. It buys the catch from fishermen, distributes locally-with the hotels taking the best-and has a monopoly on the export of fresh and frozen fish, most of which goes to Reunion and the EC countries.

Ports and Infrastructure

Since 1982-83 considerable government effort has gone into infrastructure development, which complements and supports the expansion of commercial fishing. Called the East Coast Project, a recently completed large landfill area on Mahe's east coast adjacent to Victoria includes a new fishing port and a range of other marine support facilities, such as cold storage and freezing plants, a tuna cannery, tuna and schooner quays and bunkering areas, a cargo/passenger terminal, and a new processing facility.

Fishing Port is divided into an international and a domestic zone. In the international zone, expanded berthing areas have been completed and bids have been let to increase bunkering capacity. Berth occupancy in 1988 was 93 percent of capacity on average. A U.S. tuna net repair firm, CASAMAR, has started operations in the international zone. In the domestic zone, mechanical workshops, an ice-making plant, and a polystyrene box-making plant are in place or near completion. A new fuel pump for local fishermen began operation in April 1989, financed by the French Government. The U. S. Economic Support Fund (ESF) and the African Development Bank financed the construction of the new SFA headquarters, completed in December 1988. Major work projects in the domestic zone in 1989 include new quays, stores, a service building, ramp, and seawall repair.

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Seychelles' fishing industry recovering from piracy

VICTORIA, July 5 (Reuters) - Seychelles' vital fishing industry is starting to recover after international anti-piracy efforts and boats carrying armed guards deterred attacks by Somali pirates, Natural Resources and Industry Minister Peter Sinon said on Thursday.

The Indian Ocean islands' economy depends on tuna exports and tourism, both badly hurt after pirate attacks sent foreign fishing boats out of its waters in 2010.

"The boats which had stopped fishing in our waters when piracy was at its peak are now coming back. We are once again doing a lot of bunkering for them," Sinon said.

Port sources said the number of boats entering Port Victoria slumped to 60 a year at the height of the crisis. It would receive that number in a single month at peak times.

"Before piracy there were so many more ships because we had Korean and Japanese ships as well, now we do not," a port source said. Port officials said about 40 Taiwanese and Spanish tuna ships of 1,000-tonne capacity called at Port Victoria in June.

At the height of the crisis, fish supplies to local hotels dried up because local boat owners feared going to sea. Two Seychelles fishermen seized in 2011 are still being held captive in Somalia.

Sinon said construction of a $4-million port, put on hold due to the lull in fishing, would start soon.

It has been nearly a year since the last tuna ship flying the country's flag was attacked, Sinon said, putting the improvement in maritime security down to international anti-piracy efforts and more boats carrying armed guards.

"The security personnel we have put on board the vessels have also been a very effective deterrent," Sinon said.

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‘Bold start’ to building Seychellois tuna fleet

A fleet of Seychellois-owned long-line fishing boats is one of the targets of a special fund set up by the government to improve its fishing industry.

Mr Payet (right) and Mr Toussaint signing the documents to officially set up the fund

The fund was launched through the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), in collaboration with other partners such as the Seychelles Investment Bureau (SIB) and the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS).

The total allocation of the new Fisheries Development Fund is €2.7 million, to be managed by the DBS and available to local entrepreneurs only.

Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Transport Joel Morgan praised the initiative as he launched the fund on Wednesday afternoon during the first fisheries development fair at Eden Island.

“The launch of this fund is a humble start, but a bold one, in a long process to build a Seychelles-owned fleet of tuna vessels,” he said.

“This initiative is, therefore, very important and the Seychelles government is committed to give this project its full support.”

The event was attended by affiliated partners and guests including ministers, ambassadors, members of the National Assembly and the SFA’s board of directors.

Mr Morgan explained that the fund will help create more jobs in the semi-industrial fisheries sector and give further training opportunities to our Maritime Training Centre graduates.

“We also expect an increase in the catches and exports of tuna from Seychelles,” he said.
“We have by far the largest portion of tuna stocks in the western Indian Ocean. We aim to use this to further the development advantage of our tuna industry.”

Mr Morgan spoke about other plans to complement the semi-industrial fishing industry as it expands, such as reducing the number of licences issued to foreign-owned tuna vessels, improving the landing facilities in Victoria and Bel Ombre, opening a new fishing port at Providence and planning a long-line port facility in Victoria that will, in the near future, bring extra benefits and infrastructure.

He added that a study has just been completed, whose results will be published soon with clear recommendations for action to ensure the country gets the greatest economic benefits from the industry.

A new fisheries Act and regulations are also being finalised to combat illegal fishing and improve the general management of our fisheries, to ensure the sustainability of our fish stocks.

Presentations were given by SFA managing director Rondolph Payet on what the fund is, by SFA project manager Michel Marguerite on how it will work, and by SIB chief executive Sheryn Renaud on investing in Seychelles’ fishing industry.
And the documents to officially set up the fund were signed by Mr Payet and Roger Toussaint, managing director of the DBS.

Source: NATION 7-31-09


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Artisanal fishers get skills on how to gain more from their trade

30-July-2014
Minister Sinon addressing guests and delegates at the launch of the workshop yesterdayArtisanal fishermen are meeting in a workshop aimed at giving them the necessary skills to reap more benefits from their trade.

Organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) in collaboration with the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA), this first post-harvest and handling workshop for artisanal fishermen is being held at the SFA training room.

Officially launched by the Minister for Natural Resources Peter Sinon, the one and a half day workshop has brought together artisanal fishermen from three main associations on Mahé – FBOA (Fishermen and Boat Owners Association), Roche Caïman and Bel Ombre.

The workshop, which falls under the IFAD/CLISSA (Competitive Local Innovations for Small-Scale Agriculture) project, aims at strengthening the economic activity of artisanal fishermen by using modern and sustainable practices to increase and diversify their market access.

Those taking part are to gain practical and useful skills required to develop capacity building in good handling practices, reduce post-harvest loss, value addition and promote good financial management tools.

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Minister satisfied with performance of new ice making machine

01-April-2016
The Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Wallace Cosgrow, has said the recently opened ice plant at the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) premises is functioning well and will contribute significantly towards the demand for ice in the country. The new ice plant is producing a volume of ten tonnes of ice per day.
He added the ice plant will meet, to a certain extent, the demand for this commodity when its production is combined with those of the Oceana Fisheries, Sea Harvest and Providence plants.
The minister said this after visiting the SFA plant yesterday morning to see for himself how it is functioning.
He was accompanied on the visit by officials from his ministry and from SFA. Fishermen were already getting their supplies of ice for their fishing trips yesterday when the minister arrived on the scene.
“My visit to the ice plant is to see how it is, how it is functioning. From what I’ve seen it is working well,” said the minister.
Responding to certain issues, both at the plant itself and raised by fishermen like the pool of water on the ground at the plant and also where fishermen are not sheltered from either the rain or sun when getting their ice, Minister Cosgrow said these will be looked into.
“What is most important is to get the plant up and running. When it started functioning we found certain issues that we need to adjust like getting rid of the pool of water on the ground in front of the plant, enlarge the roof and create an easier way to ease the removal of ice from the plant by the fishermen so they need not go inside to have this done,” he said, adding these are just some fine tunings that need to be done.
The important thing, he remarked, is that the machine is producing 10 tonnes of ice per day and will greatly ease the situation.
Regarding the fishermen’s opinion that the new ice machine will still not be enough, Minister Cosgrow acknowledged their view but stressed there will always be demands due to more people entering the business, lots of new and larger boats than before.
“As I said before, this is a beginning and the government has invited the private sector to enter the ice making industry,” said the minister, adding there are opportunities in such a business.
He said some private businesses have already expressed interest but he cautioned this is not something that just happens overnight.
He also mentioned the photovoltaic scheme announced by the president recently for those interested in investing in this business with the aim of reducing their electricity cost.

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EU delegation visits Ile du Port quay

A high-level delegation of the European Union (EU) comprising the bloc’s ambassador to Seychelles, Marjaan Sall, and other member states ambassadors, made a site visit to the quay of Ile du Port on Wednesday.
They had the opportunity to see loading and unloading activities going on there and the infrastructure already built there and they were also updated on planned projects.
The 120m long quay has been financed by the EU under its fisheries agreement for Seychelles.
The delegation are here for the 4th Political Dialogue under Article 8 Political Dialogue of the European Union.
The objective of the site visit was to showcase the EU’s commitment to helping Seychelles achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The Ile du Port quay was financed under the EU Fisheries Agreement which has been described as a symbol of a new comprehensive EU-Seychelles partnership, moving beyond development aid issues into enhanced trade, economic and environment-related cooperation for mutual benefit, in line with SDG No 8 "to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all", and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No 14 which is “to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.
Elaborating on the fishery operations at Ile du Port, general manager Arthur said it is a public private partnership between the Seychelles government and Jacquard Holding, owned by Frenchman Jacques de Chateauvieux.
“The whole project is owned 60% by Seychellois interest and 40% by the government. Out of the 60% there is 20% private Seychellois and 40% Jacquard,” he said. He remarked the project started in 2014 and the infrastructure is nearly completed.
“The infrastructure is geared towards making the unloading of tuna efficient,” said the general manager, noting that it can unload around 300 tonnes of fish per day.
He added the fish are put into containers, loaded on to a cargo then stored in a cold store.
The project has been financed by the Seychelles government and the Mauritius Commercial Bank. The EU’s financial contribution is towards the 120m quay and their interest in the French and Spanish fishing vessels through their membership in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).

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Anse Royale primary joins in global day of ocean celebration

15-June-2016
World Ocean Day is a global day of ocean celebration for a better future. On Wednesday June 8, individuals and organisations across our blue planet celebrated with the theme, ‘Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planets’.
Our school could not let this prestigious day go by unnoticed. In line with the Eco-Schools Programme, the Eco-School Committee ensured that the theme was celebrated both inside and outside the classrooms and its importance to humanity promoted, to a great extent.
This was through an exhibition, a collaborative effort of the school’s staff, students and parents as well as through poems, songs and sketches by staff and students, all geared towards the ‘Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet’ theme.
The exhibition which lasted two days was viewed by three hundred and twelve people, representing the school’ staff, students, parents, officials from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change as well as staff from other schools in the Zone.
Through the exhibition, the staff and students wanted to showcase the many ways in which oceans subsidise to humanity. It highlighted:
the significant challenges we face in maintaining the capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe creation;
how we, in Seychelles, are trying so hard to preserve and protect our oceans and seas, but elsewhere human activities have, and are still causing changes to the climate system and these are taking a terrible toll on the world’s oceans and seas;
how vulnerable ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being constantly damaged by over exploitation as well as the impact of rising sea levels, bringing with it devastating effects on vulnerable communities, especially the people living in small island developing states;
how oceans, like ours, are affected by piracy, armed robbery, smuggling of illegal drugs, all of which threaten lives and the peace and security that the ocean so badly need;
as well as through poems, songs and sketches by staff and students, all geared towards the ‘Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet’ theme.

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Ecole Française students visit the Victoria harbour

22-June-2016
A group of 36 children from the Ecole Française des Seychelles accompanied by their teachers visited the Fishermen Boat Owners Association and got the chance to discover activities which take place at the Victoria harbour.
The visit took place on Tuesday June 7 and the children were helped by Keith Andre, some fishermen and members of the Fishermen Boat Owners Association (FBOA) team.
Our role on the day was to inform and explain to the children the fishing industry itself, its importance, how to promote responsible fishing practice, and sustainability.
The children got the chance to meet old and young fishermen who talked to them about their career and they were so attentive. It would be interesting to know how many of these little boys and girls are dreaming of becoming future fishermen.
Fisherman Rolly Tambara, who was once taken hostage by Somali pirates, explained how fascinating his job is and the dangers he encounters sometimes. The children were also amazed by the sight of big fishes and were fascinated by the colour of others like the vieille species.
They were able to see the landing of fish by artisanal and long line vessels. They saw what happens to the fish by visiting the Oceana Fisheries factory and there they were helped by Denis Ernest who showed them the different operational sections of the factory, such as the weighing of the fish, the smoked fish machine, the cold store, the sales and the exportation section.
The children also visited the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) research vessel named ‘L’AMITIÉ’ and captain Gerard Ernesta explained to them the types of scientific research ‘done by the vessel and made them visit the crew ‘living space’.
The FBOA would like to thank all those who gave their time to help the future fishers’ generation who are still talking about fishing.
The following are some photos taking during the visit.

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Seychellois Nichol Elizabeth named IOT general manager

07-December-2017

Delivering on its promise to increase its number of Seychellois employees, Thai Union has just announced that Seychellois Nichol John Elizabeth will take over as general manager of the Indian Ocean Tuna Limited factory as of next year.
Previously general manager of Thai Union’s Ghana Operations since 2008, and with 23 years of experience in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector, Mr Elizabeth spearheaded the business to become the top producing, processing and exporting seafood company for Ghana.
He is now eager to lead the Seychelles’ operations on the same successful path: “I am truly excited to be back on home turf to consolidate IOT’s position as a key contributor to Seychelles’ economy. Besides our role as a major employer, IOT also creates critical economic value for Seychelles, estimated at 6% of the country’s GDP. We are committed to investing in forward-looking, long-term projects in Seychelles, provided the right conditions are preserved,” said Mr Elizabeth.

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President Faure says fishing industry needs revalorising

President Danny Faure visited the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) headquarters yesterday as part of his visits to various institutions which he started last year. The SFA is the first institution... Read More
President Faure says fishing industry needs revalorising

GIF seeks to reduce artisanal fishing impact on threatened species

09-May-2018
GIF general manager Wilna Accouche making her presentation The Green Islands Foundation yesterday brought together a group of fishers to discuss and explore measures that can be adopted to reduce the impact of their artisanal fishing activities on globally threatened fish species.
The meeting that brought together over a dozen fishers was held at the Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT) conference room. It was part of a project entitled ‘The development of co-management plan designed by fishers to minimise the impact of Seychelles artisanal fishery on threatened species’ which started in July 2016, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Cons
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