Lost Opportunity with EU-Seychelles fishing agreement

This is possibly the biggest letdown of the Seychellois people by the 6th National Assembly with an LDS majority.

They failed to use their majority to get Seychelles the best fishing deal possible from the European Union and have left a large portion of our population grossly disappointed and cheated.

After all the talking that they will be sending the Fisheries Minister back to Brussels to renegotiate a fresh agreement that would be in the best interest of Seychelles, they passed the agreement and handed the EU the lion’s share of the benefits from tuna fishing in our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).

Mont Fleuri MNA Jean-Francois Ferrari, who had been objecting the most during the deliberations, ended up being the biggest supporter of the agreement by raising his hand the highest to vote YES.   

The new six-year agreement, baptized the Sustainable Fishing Partnership Agreement (SFPA), allows E.U. vessels access to our EEZ in the Indian Ocean waters to catch our precious Tuna.

According to the European Commission, this is the most important tuna agreement in place for the EU, both in financial terms and in terms of fishing opportunities. It will allow a fleet of 40 European tuna purse-seiners and eight longliners to continue fishing in Seychelles waters.

Based on a reference tonnage of 50,000 metric tons (MT), the EU will provide the Seychelles with an annual financial contribution of only Euro 5.3 million (USD 5.9 million). Of this, Euro 2.8 million (USD 3.1 million) is specifically earmarked to promote the sustainable management of fisheries in the region, as well as to support the development of small-scale fisheries.

For the duration of the agreement over the six years, the total estimated value, including the EU ship owners’ contribution, amounts to only Euro 58.2 million (USD 64.7 million), equivalent to Euro 9.7 million (USD 10.8 million) per year.

This is peanuts compared to what the EU will be getting from the sale of tuna caught in our waters.

The only silver lining to the cloud is that for the first time, EU ship owners’ payments will include a specific contribution to a dedicated fund for Seychelles to use to improve environmental management and observations of the marine ecosystems in our waters. All in all, this is a very raw deal from the EU with the total endorsement of the 6th National Assembly. Wavel and company have let Seychelles down again!