Combating unsustainable fishing practices
A new vessel was commissioned by the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) on Friday, aimed at monitoring and detecting illegal activities in Seychelles waters.
The « Surveillance 2 » vessel, funded under the third phase of the SWIOFish project (SWIOFish3), was delivered for 920,000 USD. This project focuses on the shared management and expansion of fisheries in the southwestern Indian Ocean. A small ceremony marked the commissioning of the new boat at Victoria’s fishing port. Jean-François Ferrari, Minister of Fisheries and the Blue Economy stated that the addition of this vessel would bolster efforts to combat unsustainable fishing practices and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Ferrari emphasized, « Surveillance 2 will help us identify and understand those exploiting our marine resources illicitly while sending a clear message of our firm resolve to protect Seychelles’ waters ».
The crew of Surveillance 2, led by Captain Erol Raguin, will operate a vessel built in the Philippines by Stoneworks Specialists. The construction took nine months, and the vessel arrived in Seychelles in June, just before the SWIOFish3 project concluded.
During the ceremony, Terrence Crea, Director of Blue Economy, officially handed over the vessel’s responsibilities to SFA’s Chief Executive Officer, Jan Robinson. Robinson expressed gratitude to everyone involved in acquiring the vessel, stating, « This comes at a crucial time, as we have observed a threefold increase in IUU fishing detected and recorded in our waters this year ».
