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Fishermen catching Sea Cucumbers in Seychelles are being asked to submit their proposals to be part of the exploratory harvesting of the species under the joint management area (JMA) managed by Seychelles and Mauritius
Fishermen catching Sea Cucumbers in Seychelles are being asked to submit their proposals to be part of the exploratory harvesting of the species under the joint management area (JMA) managed by Seychelles and Mauritius. The JMA is the mechanism of joint jurisdiction between Seychelles and Mauritius over an area of the seabed and its underlying subsoil in the Mascarene Plateau region. It excludes the water and living organisms above the shelf.
The harvesting of sea cucumbers began in the early 1980s. The fishery experienced rapid development leading to stock depletion by 1999. Fishermen have to travel further and dive deeper to maintain catch rates. This has led to the unsustainability of the fishery and increased risks while catching high-valued sea cucumber.
The JMA mechanism will provide fishermen an opportunity to know how many sea cucumbers are there in this area, and how to catch them without leading to the depletion of their stock. This is an exploratory harvest to be taken at the risk of the fishers. Fishermen will have to go out and search for the sea cucumbers themselves.  They may come back empty-handed or with a fortune. Those who are interested in taking part in the search for sea cucumbers can submit their documents before the 21st of February. Documents submitted must include identification documents, such as ID cards, business or company documents, a fishing licence and permit, and the proposal and methodology for sea cucumber fisheries activities.
The treaty for the joint management area was signed in 2012 and the two island nations secured rights to manage the seabed covering over 400,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean.
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The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) implemented some management measures in 1999 in response to the local depletion of some species. Currently, there are 25 licenses to harvest and 4 licenses to process sea cucumbers. A recently completed survey showed that some sea cucumber species appear to be resilient to heavy fishing pressure while others show clear signs of over-exploitation. As a result, the SFA has imposed a ban on one species and quotas on others for the current season, which will end in June.
