Seychelles represented at high-level fisheries meeting in Rome |09 September 2022
Mr Clarisse and Mr Elizabeth are representing Seychelles at the 35th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) taking place in Rome, Italy
Seychelles is participating in the 35th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) taking place in Rome, Italy at the FAO headquarters from September 5-9, 2022.
Seychelles’ delegation at the COFI session comprise Roy Clarisse, principal secretary for Fisheries, and Nichol Elizabeth, chief executive of the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA).
COFI is a subsidiary body of the FAO Council established by the FAO Conference in 1965. It is the only global inter-government forum where FAO members meet to review and consider the issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture. COFI is a unique body, in that it provides periodic global recommendations and policy advice on fisheries and aquaculture to governments, regional fisheries bodies, civil society organisations, and actors from the private sector and international community.
The Committee has fostered the development and adoption of several binding agreements as well as non-binding instruments that have reshaped how the sector works in the interests of resource management andsustainability, including biodiversity conservation.
In its interventions at the COFI session, Seychelles has addressed issues of Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially in our region, which is detrimental to the sustainable management of fisheries, and is a fisheries crime, as it deprives countries and its people from the sustainable access to its resources, and called for more actions to fiercely combat illegal and unsustainable fishing practices, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Seychelles also implored FAO and its members to strengthen the governance in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) to ensure depleted stocks are recovered and member states cooperate in this domain.
Seychelles also expressed concern on the impacts of climate change on fisheries, especially on Small Island Developing States (Sids), and urged FAO and the international community to do more to reduce and mitigate this negative impact.
PS Clarisse also informed the Committee on the commitment of Seychelles on transparency in the Seychelles fisheries sector through Seychelles engagement in the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI)and on the production of two transparency reports so far, and called on all FAO COFI members to join such initiative in order to bring more transparency, awareness and accountability in domestic and international fisheries.
In celebrating the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2022, as declared by the FAO, Seychelles expressed its recognition and appreciation of the importance that small-scale artisanal fisheries play, especially in food and nutrient security, and on how this was more evident for Seychelles, especially during the height of the Covid pandemic, and called on FAO for its continued assistance in promoting and improving the quality of life of fishers and of valuing their profession.
The 35th Committee session will conclude today, September 9, with a set of recommendations.
Press release from the Ministry of Fisheries & the Blue Economy
