Gran Kaz funds fish study research project of Alphonse Foundation |22 February 2018

Alphonse Foundation has received R100,000 from Gran Kaz to support the implementation of a conservation project called the telemetry array project.

A cheque for that amount was officially handed over by the public relations and communications manager of Gran Kaz Shama Amesbury to the managing director (MD) of Alphonse Foundation and Alphonse Fishing Company Keith Rose-Innes.

The handover took place at Gran Kaz, Victoria on Thursday afternoon.

The project involves tagging two main fish -- the Giant Trevally (karang) and Milkfish (vibin) – with the aim of monitoring their migration patterns which in turn will help us understand how to protect them from dangers of overfishing.

It is estimated that the project will run for over two years at a total cost of R400,000.

Mr Rose-Innes said the Alphonse Foundation, ran by the Island Conservation Society (ICS), takes cares of the Alphonse group of atolls and it creates programmes and research projects to preserve the atolls.

“The project will start in September or October as this is when the next season starts in the atolls. It’s a first of its kind as it has never been done in the world with this species of fish so it’s a ground breaking research,” he said.

He said that Seychelles can create revenue through catching and releasing fish on the outer islands of Seychelles.

“The fish is caught by guests who pay a lot of money to catch it and release it back in the wild and it’s there for many other generations to catch,” he said.

Ms Amesbury said Gran Kaz’ interest in this project is along the lines of the greater good of conservation and protection of the fish population.

“Being able to monitor these fish they’ll be able to then know where the fish are, where, when and how they are migrating, and the impacts of the migration. It also helps to keep track on them so as to ensure there is no overfishing,” she said.

She said overfishing is a very big issue in Seychelles because fish is one of the biggest contributors to the country’s economy.

“For us it’s important to try and preserve our livelihood as well,” she said.