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Seychelles seeks to amend its Fisheries Act for the installation of electronic monitoring systems (EMS) onboard large-scale fishing vessels, that will ensure monitoring at sea is more reliable. EMS was installed on two purse seiners in 2016 in a pilot project by the SFA with the assistance of the Common Oceans ‘Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’ (ABJN) Tuna Project. It was done through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between SFA and the Organisation of Associated Producers of Large Tuna Freezers (OPAGAC).
Seychelles seeks to amend its Fisheries Act for the installation of electronic monitoring systems (EMS) onboard large-scale fishing vessels, that will ensure monitoring at sea is more reliable. EMS was installed on two purse seiners in 2016 in a pilot project by the SFA with the assistance of the Common Oceans ‘Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’ (ABJN) Tuna Project. It was done through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between SFA and the Organisation of Associated Producers of Large Tuna Freezers (OPAGAC).
This was outlined during a briefing by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to the Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Jean-Francois Ferrari, the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, and the interim chief executive of Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Philippe Michaud.
The system has cameras that record in real-time for the duration of the fishing trip, which is usually around 25-40 days. The video footage is stored on a hard disk and can then be removed and viewed by ‘dry observers’ based at the headquarters as soon as the vessel arrives in the port. TNC, in collaboration with SFA, is providing technical support, project management leadership, and financial support to improve the financial and environmental performance of Seychelles’ fisheries. Since 2021, the project is being funded through an International Climate Initiative (IKI) grant. This includes supporting coastal and large-scale fisheries activities with tools like FishPath, electronic monitoring, and fish aggregating device (FAD) management, which have ultimately contributed to certain activities within the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan (SMSP) preparation process.
There has been an increase in the number of vessels that have installed EMS. However, due to the fact that electronic monitoring is not part of the Fisheries Act, some vessel owners outlined that they are not obliged to install such systems stated the project director for the LargeScale Fisheries
Last year, Seychelles brought a resolution to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to recognise electronic monitoring as part of the standards for collecting data for observers onboard fishing vessels. The country asked for the IOTC Scientific Committee to develop minimum standards for collecting fisheries statistics, especially for scientific purposes.
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The principal secretary for fisheries, Roy Clarisse, who was also present at the briefing, stated that Seychelles wants to go a bit further in the future to also use it for compliance purposes. This is the aim because electronic monitoring is the eyes on the sea where one cannot put humans. It’s also there to complement what the human observers are doing.
