Seychelles hosts major fisheries conference |11 February 2014

Fisheries delegates from countries of the South West Indian Ocean are in Seychelles attending a three-day conference on ‘Fisheries development and its contribution to the millennium development goals’.

The aim of the conference, being held at the Constance Ephelia Resort, is for the different countries to share ideas, evaluate their progress and lessons learnt in areas of fishing over the past decade and jointly examine how fisheries has contributed to their national economies, its contribution in reducing poverty and also food security which fall under one of the eight world millennium development goals.

It has been organised by the Ministry for Natural Resources, the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Delegates are from Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Somalia, Yemen, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, France and the Maldives which all form part of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC). The commission is to promote the sustainable utilisation of marine resources by addressing common problems of fisheries management and development faced by the members.

Also attending the conference were the Minister for Finance, Trade & Investment, Pierre Laporte;  principal secretary for Natural Resources Michel Nalletamby and other high government officials.
 
Speaking at the launch of the conference, the Minister for Natural Resources Peter Sinon described the meeting as a rare opportunity to share ideas, commendable best practices and concerns over a shared highly migratory renewable but yet a finite resource.

“If not managed properly, over exploitation, depletion and the disappearance of certain species has been the result in other ocean space. The challenge and responsibility is on every one of us in ensuring that this does not happen in the Indian Ocean. Success will depend on how we comprehensively share the management responsibilities associated with monitoring and management of our stocks,” he told the delegates.

“With  the extraction and high demand for fish coming from the region not only for the local market but also for the more lucrative outside market, it has affected its price along with the livelihood and eating habits of islanders and coastal states as a result of globalization,” Minister Sinon said.

“The efforts to ensure that the emerging trend is kept in check will emanate from the new and updated fisheries bill that have been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and will soon be presented to the National Assembly to be promulgated into law. A more comprehensive monitoring and control of all stakeholders that extract the natural resources from our oceans is foreseen,” he said.

Noting that the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean has also affected the economies of countries and also reduced  the abundance of consumption in our fish diet, Minister Sinon hailed the joint efforts of all partners and stakeholders in tackling the scourge.

With the installation of V Monitoring  System on larger vessels, it has helped in monitoring and controlling illegal fishing activities. Launched in Seychelles with some countries in the region, the ‘Fish Eye-stop Illegal Fishing’ project had its first success story when a vessel caught fishing illegally in the Liberian waters escaped into the Indian Ocean thinking it was safe to fish. The Indian Ocean Fish Eye members caught the vessel and had it paid its dues. This was an exceptional result of coordination, communication and solidarity among countries of the region thus sending a strong message of non-tolerance of illegal fishing.

On this note Minister Sinon urged all members to sign and ratify the ‘Port State Measures’ of the IOTC and FAO which Seychelles leads by example by being the first African country to have signed.

For his part, the FAO representative for Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros and Seychelles, Patrice Talla, highlighted the fact that fisheries is already making a vital contribution to the food  and nutritional security of some 200 million people in Africa thus providing income for over 10 million small-scale fishers, farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in fish production, processing and trade.
 
“Fish has become a leading export commodity for Africa, with an estimated annual export value of US $2.7bn. Yet these benefits are at risk as the exploitation of natural fish stocks is reaching limits, fisheries management and trade increasingly target global markets and aquaculture has not yet fulfilled its potential as a source of fish supply for the continent,” he said.

He also acknowledged that fisheries has demonstrated that it can generate wealth for families and nations and distribute benefits widely and cost-effectively among the poor.

He thanked the Ministry of Natural Resources and the SFA for hosting the conference, the FAO for organising it and the European Union and the Indian Ocean Commission for their support. The conference will see three days of deliberations on the development of fisheries or development through fisheries, development in the prawn sector, impact of tourism on fisheries development, success, constraints and external threats, changes in the nature of artisanal fishing, marine protected areas for sustainable artisanal fishing, fisheries contribution to food security in households, among other topics.

The conference will end tomorrow with recommendations.