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Seychelles Fisheries
The fisheries sector is divided into two distinct
categories:
traditional fishing by a domestic fleet of some 400
vessels; and
industrial tuna fishing by foreign vessels, which began to
develop in the mid-1970s and has emerged as a major
revenue
source. The domestic inshore fleet consists mainly of open
boats
equipped with inboard or outboard engines, operating
within a
radius of sixteen to forty-eight kilometers of the main
islands.
Domestic offshore operations on banks surrounding the Mahé
group
and the Amirantes Isles are conducted by handlines from
larger
boats with sleeping quarters. Most of the catch is frozen.
The
fish division of SMB bought and distributed fish landed on
the
three main islands to avoid serious price fluctuations. An
export
trade in the local catch developed after the opening of
the
international airport made possible deliveries to Europe
and
other markets.
Local consumption of fish traditionally has been high,
and
has been estimated at eighty-five kilograms per capita
annually
in the early 1990s. The local catch is also an important
menu
item at the tourist hotels. The domestic fisheries catch
reached
5,734 tons in 1992, about 10 percent of which was
accounted for
by a new industrial fishing venture, the Pêcheur
Breton
mothership-dory enterprise.
Beyond 100 kilometers from the Seychelles coasts,
fishing is
conducted by some fifty-five French and Spanish purse
seiners
based at Victoria. (The Spanish vessels briefly shifted
their
base to Mombasa in 1992 but returned when the Seychelles
government reduced its port charges.) Some 160,000 tons of
tuna
were transshipped through Victoria in 1992, of which
45,000 tons
were reported by the vessels' owners to have been fished
within
Seychelles' EEZ. The Seychelles authorities had no way of
verifying these claims.
In 1991 Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar formed
the Tuna
Fishing Association to promote their interests. In
addition, a
series of three-year agreements granted European Community
(EC-- see Glossary)
vessels the right to fish in the Seychelles
EEZ.
The fourth such agreement, signed in early 1993, was
expected to
generate US$13.5 million annually. The islands' economy
also
benefit from the resulting business activity at Victoria
in the
form of port services, stevedoring, and ship chandling.
The
Seychelles government had leased one purse seiner to
profit more
directly from the tuna industry, and is building ten
seiners, but
the project has encountered financial difficulties.
In 1992 the Seychelles Fishing Authority issued 292
licenses
to long-lines fishing vessels mainly from Taiwan and the
Republic
of Korea (South Korea). These vessels make few calls at
Victoria,
offloading their catches onto motherships in mid-ocean.
Seychelles is unable to carry out naval and air
surveillance of
possible illegal fishing, especially in more remote parts
of the
EEZ. There is a strong presumption, however, that
unauthorized
use is being made of its fishing grounds.
The tuna canning plant opened in 1987, with 70 percent
of its
capital of Seychelles origin and 30 percent invested by a
French
cooperative; the plant is designed to process 8,000 to
10,000
tons of fish a year. It employs 425 people, mostly women,
and has
brought a rapid growth of export earnings, reaching
US$12.3
million by 1991. The net gain in balance of payments was
less
because the operation required some imports, notably the
cans,
which could not be produced domestically.
Data as of August 1994
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