Seychelles questions merit of a 72-day ban on FAD fishing by purse seiners in Indian Ocean |14 February 2023

Seychelles Nation

• Plans to lodge its objection for lack of scientific data

Seychelles will lodge its objection to a resolution adopted at the recent Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) meeting in Mombasa, Kenya, proposing a 72-day ban of the use of drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs) by purse seiners in the Indian Ocean, starting next year.

The proposal, led by Indonesia, was adopted during the 6^th meeting of the IOTC, which was a special session on FADS. The meeting took place from February 3 to 5, 2023.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy at Maison Collet, the principal secretary for Fisheries, Roy Clarisse, said Seychelles will object to the resolution because it was not based on scientific research.

The measure, originally tabled by the Kenyan delegation, was submitted by Indonesia, after the former withdrew its proposal on the ground it had not completed its internal procedures on time for approval.

Indonesia, with ten other entities, was initially calling for a three-month ban on the use of dFADs but this was later amended to 72 days, starting next year from July 1 to September 11, 2024.

The proposal was adopted by a vote through secret ballot since IOTC members could not reach a consensus on the content of the proposal. It was passed by 16 votes, which was two third majority needed by the commission. Seven members, including Seychelles voted against, and there was one objection.

“Our argument was that a measure on drifting FAD in the Indian Ocean region has to be taken on scientific recommendations. We have a scientific committee in the IOTC, which advises the commission on measures that can be taken but this one was arbitrary and from our views, its target was purely in a commercial interest,” said Mr Clarisse.

He added that there was a commercial fight taking place, where countries not using purse seiners and dFADs wanted to eliminate this type of fishing in the Indian Ocean region, for their own benefits, and these are mainly countries whose vessels are using pole and line or anchored FADs.

“In the Indian Ocean there are two main countries using pole and line and they are Maldives and Indonesia. We believe they are being influenced by commercial interest and this is spreading to other countries, which are sympathising with them because they do not do purse seining,” said Mr Clarisse.

Seychelles delegation at the meeting also questioned the timing of the ban, and whether any form of scientific research was carried out prior to the proposal being tabled.

Mr Clarisse also questioned the argument that the use of dFADs by purse seiners was not promoting sustainable tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean, stating all fishing methods have its impact on the environment.

Seychelles said the resolution was targeting purse seiners rather than sustainable fishing. It should be noted that the argument put forward was that purse seiners using dFADS were catching around 80 percent of juvenile tuna.

“Those using anchored FADs and pole and line also catch juvenile tuna. That is why we are saying if there is going to be a management measure then we have to look at all methods. We want to make sure that if we are going to make a sacrifice then it should be a sacrifice with a clear objective and the scientific committee needs to prove that the measure has merits and the objectives are clear,” said Mr Clarisse.

Seychelles also argued that a 72-day ban will have a negative impact on the fishing industry and its economy, which rely heavily on purse seiners.

“We have a canning factory employing hundreds of people and the stevedoring business relying on these purse seiners which provides jobs for a lot of locals and other activities revolving around fisheries. And the canning factory will suffer if there is not enough raw material to process, meaning a decline in our export,” explained the principal secretary.

It should be noted that as a small island state, Seychelles is somehow exempted from the proposal during that period, which states it can use dFADS during that time, but only in its exclusive economic zone, and not the Indian Ocean region. However, Mr Clarisse said this will not be beneficial to the vessel which will now be restricted to a specific zone.

Any country that objects to a resolution has 120 days after it is published to submit its objection and Seychelles will be submitting its objection against the implementation of the proposal soon, on the grounds that it wants the scientific committee to submit its recommendations based on research by December 2023.

A measure taken by the IOTC is not binding to the country, if the country objects.

It should be noted that the resolution had other points, which were supported by Seychelles such as the reduction of FADs from 300 to 250 per fishing vessel starting in January, 2024. This number should go down to 245 FADs by 2026. Seychelles was also in favour of a registration of FADs, to keep track on the FAD owners and vessels which had deployed them, as well as monitoring of FADs by the IOTC secretariat.

There was also a call for a ban on supply vessels starting July 1, 2024, where all countries fishing using purse seiners should have only one supply vessel in operation.

The 72-day ban was among two proposals adopted at the IOTC meeting. The other one was tabled by Maldives, and it was calling for a better management of anchored FADs, used mostly by pole-and-line vessels.

The Seychelles delegation at the meeting also included Vincent Lucas, head of department for fisheries resource management and technical coordination at the Seychelles Fishing Authority and Karyss Auguste, assistant manager for License and Permit Section at the SFA as well as other local stakeholders in the industry.

Patsy Canaya