News
Seychelles sets a good example for fisheries governance in Africa
Following their commendable actions with regards to denial of port access to the suspected IUU fishing vessel F/V Premier, the Seychelles has again displayed exemplary conduct in the management of their fisheries by publicising detailed information on Seychelles flag fishing vessels for 2013 and a list of licensed fishing vessels on the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) webpage. The sharing of this information is in line with regional fisheries agreements, and supports the objectives and results of the FISH-i Africa initiative.
The SFA was established nearly 30 years ago with vision “to develop the fishing industry to its fullest potential and to safeguard the resource base for sustainable development‚ and its website is the primary source of information about the Seychelles fishing industry. Making these two information sources public is in line with the SFA vision as it creates transparency and provides a strong tool in the fight against illegal fishing.
Countries are now able to verify information pertaining to vessels in a swift and easy manner, and this move by the Seychelles is a large step towards greater regional cooperation and information sharing and will make it more difficult for vessels to engage in IUU fishing by using fraudulent or corrupt practises. A similar initiative was adopted by Liberia last year, and has proved vital in the protection of the country’s fishery resources; hopefully this will also prove true for the Seychelles, and be an encouragement to other African countries to collaborate and share information.
Photo by P. E. Bergh – Port of Victoria, Seychelles