Scientists discuss sustainable fisheries |13 September 2011

The project, the fourth of its kind and funded by the European Union, is aimed at reducing the impacts of open ocean fisheries on the ecosystem by purse seiners and longliners.

Besides Seychelles, the other countries taking part are from both the Indian and Atlantic oceans as well as the Mediterranean. They are Reunion, Brazil, Azores, France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Opening the conference yesterday at the SFA headquarters, Dr Laurent Dagorn of IRD, France said the gathering’s main objective is to find methods to reduce catches of juvenile swordfish, sharks, turtles, rays and dolphins.

Only some of the species caught as by-catch -- turtles and dolphins -- are protected.
In the case of purse seiners, by-catch constitute 3-4% of the total catch, while for longliners that stands as high as 20-30%.

Dr Dagorn said the 40 delegates will share information collected by scientists from the different countries for plan activities – to make fisheries more sustainable and eco-friendly.

The fourth meeting of the project, which will go on until Friday, will review the scientific results achieved so far and how to integrate them into management.