Delegation back from European fishing talks |17 September 2004

The delegation held talks with the owners of the French and Spanish industrial fishing fleets, “to reassure them of what the government is doing to keep Port Victoria as competitive and as attractive as possible,” said Mr Radegonde, who was accompanied by SFA managing director Rondolph Payet and fisheries advisor to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Phillippe Michaud, on the visit.

Fishing officials have expressed growing concerns that other countries in the region, like Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mauritius, could pry some of the industrial fishing business – the leading foreign exchange earner for Seychelles – from Port Victoria.

The European mission was spurred by a report compiled by a task force appointed by the new SFA board in July, which outlined nine recommendations to alleviate some of the problems the industry faced.

Citing a perceived breakdown in communication that resulted in a lack of trust in the government, the first recommendation from the report was to initiate meaningful consultations with all stakeholders.

Mr Radegonde said dialogue with the vessel owners during the discussions in France and Spain yielded most of the same concerns raised by the task force, which included the lack of space in the fishing port, pilotage problems, delays and increased fees.

Some of the issues have more to do with a change of attitude and could be addressed immediately, he said, describing how the incoming Port Authority will have to be more flexible in accommodating fishing vessels in the commercial port.

Work to repair and extend the fishing port – expected to be completed by December – will free up some quay space, but there’s still “a clear need to extend the fishing port and provide more quay space,” Mr Radegonde said.

During the visit in France, the delegation consulted with the mayor of Concarneau, the fishing port where the vessel owners are based, about the possibility of providing Seychelles with technical assistance to develop a master plan for Port Victoria that would include adequate quay space, cold storage and net repair facilities.

Apart from quay space, other problems listed in the report, namely those with financial implications, will take a bit longer to sort out, “but the principle has been accepted that there needs to be a reduction (in prices),” Mr Radegonde allowed, referring to transhipment fees and extra charges for night pilotage that were deemed unfair by the task force and vessel owners.

He added that while the industrial fishing fleet does appreciate the efficiency of Port Victoria, the country can no longer assume that fishing vessels will automatically do their transhipment here, especially with other ports in the region like Mombasa and Dar es Salaam developing rapidly.

While Seychelles still remains the preferred destination in the region, Mr Radegonde said Port Victoria needs to have some “pluses” to entice vessels to stay on, even if it means they have to sail an extra day or two.

“If you have a really beautiful girl, she could be living at Takamaka and you’re still going to drive out there to see her,” said Mr Radegonde, likening the situation to the Indian Ocean fleet’s choice of ports.

Talks with the vessel owners will continue next month, when the owners of the two major fishing companies from Spain are scheduled to visit Seychelles in early October.

The 10-day European mission also saw the delegation meet with the European Commission directorate general for fisheries in Brussels, this ahead of negotiations for a new fisheries agreement between the EU and Seychelles.

The current agreement will expire at the end of the year.

Mr Radegonde said the first round of talks with the EU will start on Monday in Seychelles.

There are more than 40 EU-owned purse seiners fishing in Seychelles’ waters, 10 of which are sailing under the Seychelles flag.