With a rise in demand for value-added fish products, the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) hosted a fisheries festival on Praslin, the second most populated island recently.

The festival was held on Friday at the Baie Ste Anne fish market as part of activities leading up to its 40th  anniversary and to celebrate this year's National Day on June 29, which is Seychelles' Independence Day.

A large crowd was present at the fish market, the chosen venue for the event, but many voiced their disappointment as in less than an hour, mostly all the products had been sold.

The SFA team had partnered with the Indian Ocean Tuna Limited (IOT) company to bring a variety of canned tuna products to sell at the festival. Other fish-based products such as burgers, nuggets and balls prepared by SFA were also on sale but not enough to cater to the islanders' demands.

The fishballs were used in Spaghetti. (Mandy Bertin) Photo License: CC-BY

Members of the public who were present were eager to try the dishes prepared by SFA and among them were grilled fish, shark chutney, tuna belly stir fry and the mouth-watering salted tuna coconut curry. All the dishes were served with creamy lentils and pumpkin chutney. Spaghetti, usually served with meatballs, was given a new local touch, with fishballs replacing the meat.

All the SFA products were sold before noon and the authority said this surpassed their expectations.

Aside from the products on sale, an exhibition was mounted at the venue, showcasing the different sections within SFA and their work, marine animals, and the public were able to learn more about aquaculture in Seychelles.

Neddy Rose, a fisherman for more than two decades, was present to demonstrate his skills in making fish traps, and this attracted a lot of school children who were visiting the exhibition.

The students described the exhibition as interesting and informative, as they have acquired new knowledge on the fisheries sector in the country.

Rose making fish traps. (Mandy Bertin) Photo License: CC-BY

Part of the exhibition gave in-depth information on various elements of aquaculture, which aims to help in diversifying the country's economy. One is the broodstock acclimation and quarantine facility, which is a multi-species facility located at Providence Port on the main island of Mahe.

More light was also shed through this exhibition on the sea cage site, a project to carry out a pilot-scale group of marine finfish in Seychelles. 

Visitors were also given information on crab farming, sea cucumber, sea urchin and pearl farming.

The SFA team was also displaying and sharing more information on the permits needed before engaging in any fishing activity or fishing-related activities.

People wanting to venture into a fishing business were able to view the section displaying information on the Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS). These are used in commercial fishing to allow environmental and fisheries regulatory organisations to track and monitor the activities of fishing vessels.