ALBERT

Description: Fishing has traditionally played an important role in the socio-economic development of the country, providing an important source of exports and foreign exchange earnings, job creation, government revenue and most of all an important source of animal protein for the population. With the emergence of Port Victoria as a major tuna landing and transshipment center in the region coupled with the country's venture in tuna canning activity, the importance of the fisheries sector has grown even further to establish itself as a major economic activity, an important source of foreign exchange earnings and contributor to the country's wealth generation. The Industrial Tuna Fishing Activity in Seychelles has since its outset been an important source of revenue for the country's economy, representing almost 25% of gross inflows of foreign currency generated by the fisheries sector and associated activities in 2002. This contribution is not only in terms of earnings from the issue of licenses to foreign fishing vessels to fish in our Economic Exclusive Zone, but more importantly in terms of expenditure on local purchases of goods and services effected by these foreign vessels and foreign fishing companies based in Port Victoria. With Port Victoria being the principal base for these foreign fishing vessels implies that a number of job opportunities are created for Seychellois nationals as well as creating other spillover effects in the economy. Moreover, tuna landed in Port Victoria is also a main source of raw material for the local canning factory, which in turns generates further employment for Seychellois nationals and export earnings. After experiencing a significant drop in 1998, the gross earnings from the industrial tuna fishing activity has been growing steadily over the following two to three years and a record inflow was registered in the year 2000, after which slight decreases have been observed in subsequent years.

Description: Published

Description: industrial tuna fishing

Description: Fishing has traditionally played an important role in the socio-economic development of the country providing an important source of exports and foreign exchange earnings, job creation, government revenue and most of all an important source of animal protein for the population. With the emergence of Port Victoria as a major tuna landing and transshipment center in the region coupled with the country's venture in tuna canning activity, the importance of the fisheries sector has grown even further to establish itself as a major source of foreign exchange earnings and contributor to the country's wealth generation. The Industrial Tuna Fishing Activity in the Western Indian Ocean has since its outset been an important source of revenue for the Seychelles economy, representing almost a third of gross inflow of foreign currency generated by the fisheries sector and associated activities. This contribution is not only in terms of earnings from the issue of licenses to foreign fishing vessels to fish in our Economic Exclusive Zone, but also in terms of expenditure on local purchases of goods and services effected by these foreign vessels and foreign fishing companies. With Port Victoria being the principal base for these foreign fishing vessels imply that a number of job opportunities are created for Seychellois nationals as well as creating other spill-over effects in the economy. Moreover, tuna landed in Port Victoria is also a main source of raw materials for the local canning factory, which in turns generate further employment for Seychellois nationals and exports earnings. After experiencing a significant drop in 1998, the gross earnings from the industrial tuna fishing activity has been growing steadily over the last two years and a record inflow was registered in the year 2000. On the other hand, the number of calls and days spent in port affected by the foreign fishing vessels, including support and reefer vessels, experienced a drop. The volume of tuna landed and transshipped in Port Victoria registered a small increase as Seychelles maintained its position as the major tuna center in the region. For the year 2000, the gross revenue generated by the Industrial Tuna Fishing Activity reached a record level of RS 314.882 millions. This includes vessels' and companies' expenditure on local purchases of goods and services and receipts from licenses issued. The net revenue on the other hand did not reached a record level. Net inflow stood at RS 131.128 millions in 2000 representing only 42% of total gross inflow. Calculated in dollar terms at current exchange rate the gross revenue stood at US$ 50.8 millions whereas the net revenue stood at US$ 18.6 millions. As regards to activity in Port Victoria, the total number of calls registered fell from 709 in 1999 to 651 in 2000, whilst the number of days spent in port by all vessels dropped from 4,994 in 1999 to 4,373 in 2000. The volume of transshipment however, grew marginally by 4.7%, from around 257,500 metric tons in 1999 to approximately 269,700 in 2000. This represented more than 80% of the total tuna caught in the Western Indian Ocean and transshipped. On the international scene the market for raw materials tended to normalize in 2000. After heavy supply towards the end of 1999 causing prices to drop to its lowest level in 25 years, the situation changed completely in the beginning of 2000. There was a shortage for raw materials on the market as many boats stopped operation as fishing had become uneconomical and in addition, there were fishing bans in certain areas. During the year, skipjack prices remained at a level of US $ 400/mt for several months and only moved to US 430/mt in December. Prices improvement were also foreseen for yellow-fin by December. In order to normalize trade and increase the raw material prices, several countries implemented measures to reduce catches or fishing effort. The World Tuna Boat Owners Organization at its second meeting in December 2000 followed their initiatives. The main resolutions were to limit fishing effort and reduce catch, stimulate consumer demand for tuna on domestic and international markets and producing volume that will only match demand. Even if the short-term impact of the tuna catch reduction was expected to be minimal, in the long run substantial increase was expected in tuna prices, which could well last into the year 2002.

Description: Published

Description: industrial tuna fishing

Description: Many coral reef fish species aggregate at specific times and locations for the purpose of spawning. This study examined the spatial and temporal distribution of spawning aggregations in the Seychelles. An interview-based survey of the principal stakeholders, mainly artisanal fishers, yielded 89 reports of aggregation fishing for 26 demersal and semi-pelagic fish species. Grouper aggregations were largely concentrated in the outer coralline islands of the exclusive economic zone, whilst those of snappers and rabbitfishes were mainly reported from locations on the Seychelles Bank. The spatial patterns among fish families were attributed to a combination of differences in species abundance and distribution as well as variation in fishing effort. Spawning periodicity reported by fishers indicated that for snappers and rabbitfishes, the most activity occurred across a protracted period of October to April/May, with peaks in activity at either end of that period. Grouper spawning activity was concentrated in the northeast monsoon months of November to January. The findings of this study suggest that several spawning aggregations are targeted by fishers on a regular basis, a practice that constitutes a primary issue for artisanal fisheries research and management in the Seychelles.

Description: Published

Description: Spatial distrubution; spawning aggregations, Temporal distribution

Description: Published

Description: Industrial tuna fishing

Description: Fishing has traditionally played an important role in the socio-economic development of the country, providing an important source of exports and foreign exchange earnings, job creation, government revenue and most of all an important source of animal protein for the population. With the emergence of Port Victoria as a major tuna landing and transshipment center in the region coupled with the country's venture in tuna canning activity, the importance of the fisheries sector has grown even further to establish itself as a major economic activity, an important source of foreign exchange earnings and contributor to the country's wealth generation. The Industrial Tuna Fishing Activity in Seychelles has since its outset been an important source of foreign exchange earnings for the country's economy, representing about 29% of total gross inflows of foreign currency generated by the fisheries sector and associated activities in 2004. This contribution is not only in terms of earnings from the issue of licenses to foreign fishing vessels to fish in our Economic Exclusive Zone, but more importantly in terms of expenditure on local purchases of goods and services effected by these foreign vessels and foreign fishing companies based in Port Victoria. With Port Victoria being the principal base for these foreign fishing vessels implies that a number of job opportunities are created for Seychellois nationals as well as creating other spill-over effects in the economy. In 2004 an average of 102 stevedores were employed per day for a total of 337 days, resulting in a cumulative 34,400 man days of labour during the year. Moreover, tuna landed in Port Victoria is also a main source of raw material for the local canning factory, which in turns generates further employment for Seychellois nationals and export earnings. The year 2004 saw a record amount of inflow in earnings. The generated income recorded was 26% higher than the previous year. The level of activity, which relates to the number of calls, number of days spent in port and the volume of landings and transshipment handled in Port Victoria, recorded an overall decrease in 2004. This was mainly due the fact that the level of fishing activity was not as impressive as the previous year.

Description: Published

Description: Industrial tuna fishing

Description: Published

Description: Published

Description: Published