Two organisations have come together and agreed to enhance public knowledge about sustainable marine fisheries and increase informed debates among civil society, media and students, and others, in Seychelles.

The Danny Faure Foundation (DFF) and the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) signed a partnership agreement on Thursday with the common aim of advancing sustainable fisheries in the Indian Ocean through transparency and collective action,

The foundation's executive director, Lorraine Faure, outlined in a joint press release that "it goes without saying that our partnership with FiTI is based on shared values, with the promotion of sustainability built into its core."

"As such, in FiTI the DFF finds a natural and like-minded partner with whom it can hope to effect the positive change that both organisations want in this endeavor," said Faure.

The Danny Faure Foundation, founded by former Seychelles' President Danny Faure, was launched in June 2021 to contribute to Seychelles' sustainable development and to join the global community in its efforts to achieve a more sustainable and healthier planet. It has the objective of tackling pressing issues to attain a more just, equitable, sustainable, and healthy world for present and future generations.

Its partner, FiTI, is a global multi-stakeholder partnership where governments, businesses, and civil society collaborate jointly. It seeks to increase transparency and participation for the benefit of more sustainable management of marine fisheries and the well-being of citizens and businesses that depend on the marine environment.

FiTI's regional coordinator of the Western Indian Ocean, Will May, said that he values sustainable oceans and transparency, accountability and good governance that former President Faure championed over the years he was in office now form the bedrock of his foundation's work."

"These values also resonate with the FiTI's approach to open, participatory governance of fisheries resources and so we look forward to collaborating with the DFF to develop joint capacity building and awareness-raising activities on these issues, both in Seychelles and the wider region," said May.

In 2020, Seychelles became the second country in the world to be granted the status of a FiTI candidate country, after Mauritania. The International Secretariat of the initiative is based in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.