ALBERT

Description: (1). During 1997 an estimated total of 4095 tonnes of fish was landed on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue by 348 fishing boats. 83.5% of the total catch was landed on Mahe alone. The catch volume has decreased by 415 tonnes compared to the 1996 catch and the number of boats operating has increased by 21 over the same period. (2). The most important species groups landed (greater than 5% of the total catch) were carangues (38.1%), job (11.3%), maquereau doux (7.3%) and capitaine (5.4%). (3). Peak landings occurred in April (701.8 MT) and the lowest catch was recorded in June (150 MT). The average catch per month was 341.2 tonnes. (4). A marked seasonal variation in catches of demersal species was observed, with low catches being recorded during the period of southeast trade winds (June - September). Peak catches of carangues occurred during April. The catch of pelagic species exhibited the same seasonal variation as observed with the demersal species. Catches of cordonnier dropped in June and July. The catch of other trap fish, however, dropped slightly from March to June. These observations of seasonal variability are believed to relate more to climatic conditions than to the catchability of the fish themselves. 1997 also saw the start of a strong El Nino weather phenomenon that may have contributed to the decline in catch. (5). In total the small boat fishery accounted for 38% of fish landings during 1997. The percentage catch by boat type for the small boat fishery is as follows; fishermen on foot -1.5%; pirogues - 6.1 %; outboards — 89.9% and whalers with fixed traps ¬2.5%. Fishermen on foot landed mostly octopus (65.7%): pirogues landed mainly maqueraux (61%) and trap fish (26%): outboards landed predominantly carangues (36.9%), maqueraux (17.7%) and cordonnier (9%), whalers with traps landed mainly cordonnier (42%) and capitaine (31.7%). Landings by the small boat fleet were made up mostly of pelagic species (69.1%). (6). The whaler handline fishery accounted for 53% of total landings. An average of 91 whalers operated each month during 1997 including those using traps indicating no change when compared to 1996. Carangues made up just under half of the catch (45.9%). Other important species in the catch were; job gris (15%), Bourgeois (8.3%) and becune (6.8%). (7). An average of 11 schooners operated each month during 1997 and accounted for 7.2% of total landings. Bourgeois was the most important species caught (20%) followed by job gris (17.4%), vara vara (6.5%) and Carangues (6.4%). The spanner crab Ranina ranina accounted for 7.1% of schooner landings. (8). Fish purchases from the artisanal fishery by the Oceana Fisheries Co. Ltd. were equivalent to 12.2 % of total landings (503.4 MT). 99% was purchased in Victoria and the remaining 4.7 MT on Praslin. Major species purchased were: job (25%), bourgeois (19%), groupers (13.4%) and capitaine (10.6%). (9). Oceana Fisheries also purchased 165.8 MT of frozen fish (gutted and ungutted) from foreign longline vessels during 1997. Species purchased were all pelagic of which bonite was the most common (65%) followed by dorade (13.9%), swordfish (7%) and yellowfin (3.6%) (10). Fish product exports during 1997 generated revenue of 230.2 million Seychelles Rupees in foreign exchange earnings. Fish exports by the Oceana Fisheries amounted to 250.3MT. 71% being fresh and 29% frozen valued at SR 6.5 million (CIF). Major destinations for the fish were; Reunion (52%), Mauritius (23%) and England (21%). Job (35.6%), pelagic fish (23%) and bourgeois (17.7%) formed the most important fish exports. (11). A comparison of data collected between 1985 and 1997 follows. The proportion of catch by boat type and number of boats operating shown in the following table do not include the research vessels of the Seychelles Fishing Authority which landed 24.5 tonnes in 1997 contributing to 0.6 % of the total catch.

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Description: (1). During 1995 an estimated total of 4313 tonnes of fish was landed on Mahe. Praslin and La Digue by 337 fishing boats 86,4% of which was landed on Mahe alone. The catch volume has decreased by 114 tonnes since 1994, and the number of boats operating has increased by 9 over the same period. (2). The most important species groups landed (greater than 5% of the total catch) were, carangues {29.8%), job (13.3%), bourgeois (8.3%), maquereau doux (7.5%), cordonicr (6.8%) and capitaine (6.8%). (3). Peak landings occurred in March (546.6 MT) and the lowest catch occurred in January (216.4 MT). The average catch per month was 359.4 tonnes. (4). A marked seasonal variation in catches of demersal species was observed, with low catches being recorded during the period of south east trade winds (June - September). Peak catches of carangue occurred during May. The catch of pelagic species exhibited the same seasonal variation as observed with the demersal species. Catches of cordonier dropped in May and August. The catch of other trap fish, however, dropped slightly from May to September. These observations of seasonal variability are believed to relate more to climatic conditions than to the catchability of the fish themselves. (5). In total the small boat fishery accounted for 40% of fish landings during 1995. The percentage catch by boat type for the small boat fishery is as follows; fishermen on foot, 1%; pirogues, 9 %; outboards, 89% and whalers with fixed traps, l%. Fishermen on foot landed mostly octopus (89%: pirogues landed maquereau (69.2%) and cordonier (15%): outboards landed maqueraux doux {21%) and cordonnier (17%) and whalers with traps, cordonier (46%) and other trap fish (39%) . Approximately half of the landings by the small boat fleet were pelagic species. (6). The whaler handline fishery accounted for 50.2% of total landings. An average of 92 whalers operated each month during 1995 including those using traps, with a reduction in the fleet of 3 vessels since 1995. Carangues accounted for the largest part of the catch (38%). Other important species were; job gris (16.5%), bourgeois (12%) and becune (6.5%). (7). An average of 11 schooners operated each month during 1995 and accounted for 6% of total landings. Bourgeois was the single most important species caught (24%) followed by batrican (10%) and vielle maconde (5%). The spanner crab Ranina ranina accounted for 2.6% of schooner landings.

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Description: (1). During 2003 a total of 3,852 Metric Tonnes (MT) of fish was landed on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue by 405 fishing boats. 80.5% of the total catch was landed on Mahe alone. The total artisanal catch decreased by 1063 (MT) compared to 2002, whilst the number of boats operating increased by 31 over the same period (excluding sport fishing vessels). (2). The most important species groups landed (greater than 5% of the total catch) were carangues (33.6%), job (15.8%), bourgeois (9.1%), cordonier (6.6%), capitaine (6.1%), becune (6.0%), and maquereau doux (5.4%). Compared to 2002, there were notable increases in the relative importance of cordonier and bourgeois to the overall catch. (3). Peak landings occurred in November (463.7 MT) and the lowest catch was recorded in September (137.3 MT). The average monthly catch in 2003 was 321 (MT). (4). Slight seasonal variation in total catch was observed in 2003. The mean monthly catch during the months of May — October, inclusive; was 290.5 MT, compared to a mean montly catch of 318.1 MT during the months of December — March, inclusive. In contrast to the patterns observed in 2001 and 2002, the highest catches for carangues occurred in November rather than April. Catches of cordonnier continued to increase (254.7 MT) over the previous two years, with peak monthly catches coinciding with the peak spawning months for those species, namely October to December. (5). The percentage of the total artisanal catch taken by the small boat fishery (pirogues and outboards) was 28.3%, similar to the estimate obtained in 2002. Fishermen on foot landed 0.6% of the total artisanal catch, with octopus catches from this fishery totaling 21.3 MT in 2003. 5.4 MT of maquereau were landed by pirogues using beach seines. Carangues (22.6%) replaced maquereau doux (19.2%) as the most important species landed by vessels with outboards in 2003, other important groups in this fishery including cordonier (22.3%) and other trap fish (11.9%). In 2003, landings by the small boats and foot fishermen were divided equally between pelagic and semi-pelagic species (48.2%) and demersal/ reef species (51.8%). (6). Typical of previous years, the whaler handline fishery dominated artisanal fisheries catches, accounting for 63.4% of total landings in 2003. An average of 96 whalers operated each month during 2003, an increase of 5 vessels compared to 2002. Carangues made up 42.1% of the total whaler handline catch. Other important species in the catch were, in order of importance, job gris (22.1%), becune (8.3%) bourgeois (8.3%) and bonite (3.7%). For the second consecutive year, catches of bourgeois by the whaler handline fishery increased, by 22.2% over 2002. (7). A maximum of 16 schooners were in operation during 2002 and these vessels accounted for 6.8% of total landings. Bourgeois was again the most important species caught (36.9%), followed by the 'others' category (18.6%) and job gris (8.5%). The spanner crab Ranina ranina accounted for 5.8% of schooner landings. (8). Fish purchases from the artisanal fisheries by Oceana Fisheries Co. Ltd. were equivalent to 10.4% total landings (400.7 MT). Major species groups purchased were red snappers and bourgeois (219 MT), job (57.4 MT), groupers (30,6 MT), capitaine (23.2 MT), octopus (21.9 MT) and carangue (17 MT). (9). Fish purchases from foreign longline and purse seine vessels by Oceana Fisheries Co. Ltd. were 245.9 MT during 2002. Species purchased were all pelagic, of which bonito bait was the most common (112.8 MT), followed by yellowfin (40.3 MT), dorade (37.3 MT) and skipjack (14.1 MT). (10). Fish exports by Oceana Fisheries Co. Ltd. amounted to 201.1 MT, a decrease of around 25 MT compared to 2002. These exports were valued at SR 5.6 million (C.I.F). Compared to the previous year, the markets shifted in order of importance in 2003, with Mauritius constituting the major importer of Seychelles fish products (69.9 MT), followed by Reunion (55.6 MT), England (50.1 MT) and France (14.6 MT). Pelagic fishes (33.8%), bourgeois (29.5%) and job (15.8%) were the most important fish groups exported. (11). A comparison of data collected between 1991 and 2003 follows, The proportion of catch by boat type and number of boats operating shown in the following table does not include the research vessel (RJV L'Amitie) of the Seychelles Fishing Authority, which landed 3.1 MT of fish in 2003, contributing 0.1% to the total artisanal catch.

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