Six SMA students join 2nd FAD clean-up expedition |29 March 2023

Seychelles Nation

Six students from the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) boarded the coast guard boat Saya de Malha yesterday to take part in the second Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) clean-up expedition.

They left Mahé accompanied by a lecturer and during their voyage the crew will physically collect and remove debris washed up in the reef, lagoons and on the shores of outer islands.

FADs, which are widely used in and around Seychelles waters by tuna purse seiners and tuna fishing vessels, are free-floating platforms equipped with a GPS to attract large concentrations of fish. FADs are commonly made up of a 2×2 metre wide bamboo raft covered with shade material and fishing nets or ropes, hanging down from the corners to a depth of 20 to 50 metres. They are equipped with echo-sounders and satellite buoys, and are either anchored or untethered and free to drift on the ocean surface.

Most of the materials used to build the FADs, such as nets, ropes and fishing buoys are non-biodegradable and if abandoned or lost contributes to marine pollution.

The young people will have the opportunity to visit and look for FADs around Aldabra, Assumption, Cosmoledo, Astove, Farquhar, Cerf and Providence.

To see them off, the Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Jean-François Ferrari, came to encourage the youth and the team going on this mission.

“This activity has several objectives – one is to encourage you to take up a job in the maritime field and secondly we have an education programme to educate our Seychellois brothers and sisters on how to keep our oceans clean and promote sustainable fishing. The other objective is to collect the debris and remove all the negativity so that we can have a sustainable fishing industry. You will be with the coast guards for three weeks and you will see how they protect our country,” shared Minister Ferrari.

Minister Ferrari gave some supplies and equipment to the four boys and two girls from the SMA who are making the trip.

They will spend three weeks at sea and expect to return on April 17-18.

The first expedition was last year from October 18-28.

Text & photos by Vidya Gappy