Cabinet approves harvest strategy policy for sustainable fisheries management   |05 August 2023

Seychelles Nation

Cabinet has approved the harvest strategy policy and the management standards for Seychelles fisheries. 

This will ensure that the fisheries harvest strategy policy in Seychelles can effectively manage individual fisheries based on their unique biological characteristics and socio-economic goals.

The approval came during the scheduled cabinet briefing on Wednesday, chaired by President Wavel Ramkalawan, in which a number of policy memoranda were approved.

It will provide a framework that guides the development and implementation of harvest strategies for all fisheries in the Seychelles. It also aims to provide standards to enable the country to meet best practices for implementing harvest strategies in fishery management planning.

Elaborating on the policy, principal secretary for the department of Fisheries, Roy Clarisse, explained that this means from now on, a component on harvest strategy will be incorporated in all the management plans developed for different types of fishing in the country.

“This is a commitment from the government to say that we have regulations to incorporate all the plans,” he stated.

PS Clarisse stated that before a stock is depleted to a certain level, there are regulations which have been put in place. This was done with consultation with stakeholders.

“We can all agree where the stock of our fishes should be and what measures we have put in place when we are fishing, to decide if the stock depletes, what are the measures in place, and if vice versa happens, how we can add participants so more people can benefit.”

He explained the importance of the participation of the stakeholders in this procedure due to them being integral.

It is also important that the information they provide for stock assessments by the relevant authorities, is reliable for the authorities and partners to make sure that the stock remains sustainable and continues to reproduce.

Mr Clarisse noted the harvest strategy sets out the limit for the exploitation of a species, to ensure a sustainable stock and the regulations to implement, in the event it reaches the lower, dangerous limits.

“This can be done by reviewing the number of boats, and days of outings, whether it should be seasonal or designate areas for the type of fishing,” explained Mr Clarisse.

PS Clarisse explained the positive aspects of the regulations, noting that the stock assessment, could give a clearer picture of the state of the species, leading to possibilities of fishing more than the regulated amount.

“In a fishing session, the goal is to always fish at an optimal level and what is economically viable and sustainable. If there is space to grow, this has also been established in the regulations to say okay, now we can increase by a certain percentage,” he stated.

He said the Seychelles spanner crab that was discussed at a workshop held this week will also incorporate in the harvest strategy.

Sunny Esparon