(Seychelles News Agency) - With the FishPath process successfully completed for the lobster fishery in Seychelles, the Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA) will be developing a comprehensive harvest strategy for the species.

Through a grant from the International Climate Initiative (lKI), the FishPath team in partnership with the SFA, began discussions for the harvest strategy for lobster, and hosted a National Lobster Workshop at Eden Bleu Hotel.

Seychellois fisheries specialist and consultant, Dr Ameer Ibrahim said, "When you talk about harvest strategies, people usually think that it's just about control and stopping people from fishing, but it's more than that. It also includes economic, social and biological aspects. It analyses all of that to put in place a more sustainable way of fishing."

He said that the Harvest Strategy Policy was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in August 2023, to ensure that Seychelles can effectively manage individual fisheries based on their unique biological characteristics and socio-economic goals. This project comes at the right time, he concluded.

"We hope that the workshop facilitates discussions by fishers concerning the main issues they are encountering today. We completed the first part of the development of a harvest strategy by narrowing the options specific to Seychelles through the FishPath process. We then hope to introduce participants to the harvest strategy concept by engaging participants in activities specifically designed to meet this objective," Ibrahim stated. 

In Seychelles, there has been a tailored approach to the FishPath process, not focusing solely on the tool but identifying the importance of bringing fishers into the discussion and the accompanying capacity-building and technical support it brings.

Several lobster fishers were able to participate in the discussions during the workshop.

Discussions for the harvest strategy for lobster started in a workshop at Eden Bleu Hotel.  (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

FishPath is an approach to make the fisheries sector sustainable by adopting a bottom-up approach to fisheries management and has so far been applied in 17 countries spanning over 45 fisheries. Seychelles is among other island states in the Indian Ocean that have received a grant from the German government through The Nature Conservancy (TNC), headquartered in Virginia, United States.

Speaking to the media, Jude Pool said that they face many challenges such as climate change when fishing for lobster. “We do what we can. Lobster is fished at night, so we leave at around 6 pm and if we find any that’s great but sometimes, we don’t. Sometimes the weather is really bad and the water is too murky so we can’t go out. During the season, oftentimes we can only go out a few times a week. We support the work that is being done because we want to continue fishing in the future.”

A lobster fisher from La Digue, Jimmy Mellon, emphasised the many challenges they face and said that over the years fishers have noticed a significant decline in the amount of lobster available for fishing.

"One of the issues we face is the period that the season is open, I feel that it should be amended. People want to eat lobster during the festive season but the season is opened after that so it is not worth as much. We mostly sell to hotels but there are also Seychellois who buy directly from us. It is more difficult nowadays, there is not many lobsters available," he added.

The head of fisheries research at SFA, Rodney Govinden, stated that there are measures that have been established for a long time, and "this workshop is meant to formalise this and get input from the fishers themselves. This way they understand what is being done and it will mean an easier implementation of the strategy. We are still in the beginning phases of the development of the harvest strategy, now that FishPath has completed its work we must analyse and put together the harvest strategy."

Ebrahim underlined the importance of dealing with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as this has become the most significant aspect hindering the effective management of the fishery during the FishPath process.

"I have seen it myself. There is a Facebook page that showcases local cuisine and I have seen dishes that include species such as lobster even when it is not in season. Either these people are not aware that recreational fishing for lobster is strictly prohibited and that only licenced fishers are allowed or they are simply not following regulations," he said

In his address, the Minister for Blue Economy and Fisheries, Jean-Francois Ferrari, said, "Managing fisheries is never easy work, there are so many components to be considered such as the social and economic aspects. This workshop will provide a platform for all stakeholders involved to put forward their opinion regarding the harvest strategy for lobster."