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Archive -Fishing and Agriculture

Seychelles and Mauritius renegotiate fisheries accord |26 January 2015

Representatives from Seychelles and Mauritius met in Victoria this week to renegotiate the fisheries accord between the two countries.

The Seychelles delegation was led by Philippe Michaud, the chairman of the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) board while the Mauritius delegation was led by Mylavadee Mudaliar, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands.

According to a communique from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussions were held in an open and constructive manner, which helped reach a common understanding of the necessity to have a timely renewal of the agreement to ensure continuity of fishing operations.

In view of this need for continuity, both parties agreed that the reciprocal fishing agreements need to be signed at latest before March 11, 2015.

It was agreed for the parties to exchange the proposed reciprocal fishing agreements before the second round of negotiation scheduled for February 23 to 25, 2015 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

The Seychelles delegation presented their proposals with focus on development in the sector, highlighting the needs to incorporate international obligations in the agreement and addressing sustainability issues as well as port State obligations.

The Mauritius delegation responded that it had come to Seychelles with a view to discussing the reciprocal agreements taking on board the spirit of regional co-operation that have been embedded in both outgoing reciprocal agreements in the interest of both parties.

The Mauritius delegation requested for the reciprocal nature of the agreement to be maintained, to which the Seychelles delegation had no objection.

On this basis, both sides agreed to the process of having an exchange of reciprocal agreements prior to the next round of negotiation.

It was agreed that the discussions relating to fishing opportunities and licence fees as presented by the Seychelles delegation would be further addressed at the next round of negotiation.

At the request of the Mauritius delegation, the Seychelles team agreed to reconsider the proposal made regarding fishing opportunities and licence fees. The Mauritius authority would submit counter proposal.

An examination of the text of the proposed Seychelles draft agreement and its annex was undertaken. The Mauritius delegation has agreed to propose a text on the same line to reflect reciprocity of the bilateral fishing agreements.

 

 

 

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